Consolation Prize: Through Her Distorted Mirror
by mysterious intentions
Summary: From any angle, waiting one-and-a-half years for an answer wears the heart down. "It is going to be very hard for me to feel this way about anyone else, there's only so many people that can flip your world upside down. However, I shouldn't, no I can't accept simply being a consolation prize. I have to be strong." Set between Ch. 699 and The Last. Hinata-centric, eventual NaruHina.
1. Team 8's Bonds: The Brightest Firework

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Team 8's Bonds: The Brightest Firework

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* * *

He tipped his head back, relishing the elation that sprinkled onto his head and curled into his toes. This must be what Heaven smelled like...the tantalizing scents practically assaulted his sensitive nose−everything from grilled yakitori, fried yakisoba, and the sweet aroma of cotton candy wafted through the warm summer air. He slowly blinked his eyes open, the lanterns strung above them a hazy glow against the clear dark sky.

"Kiba-kun? Are you okay?"

He turned towards the voice lazily, confidently thrusting his thumb up. "Never been better! Sorry Hinata, didn't mean to worry you."

"Ah," she hummed, lips forming into an amused smile, "I'm glad that you're in such a good mood Kiba-kun."

Shino nodded in agreement. "As am I, come, let us enjoy this festival as−"

"It smells so good, I am so pumped to eat _everything_!" Kiba exclaimed. Grabbing a hold of Hinata's wrist, he dashed to the nearest food stand, a takoyaki stall, with Akamaru close at their heels.

Shino folded his arms, his hands finding shelter in the baggy sleeves of the opposite arm. "I'm alone...again," he sighed, trailing after his teammates.

Kiba wasn't kidding−Team 8 flitted through nearly all the food stalls available− and Kiba stuffed his belly to a size that rivaled even Chouji's. They had just wrapped up the last stall, where he lingered to inhale the savory smoke of chicken grilling, when he noticed that their team was one member short.

"Oi, where did Hinata go?"

He didn't know what he triggered, but Shino's eyebrow ticked dangerously. "Oh...so you notice when she's gone?"

"Huh? Why are you sulking?" Kiba clasped his hands together behind his head.

"Perhaps because of the fact that you ran off without me at the chocolate banana stand, which may I remind you was only the second stand we visited, and then didn't notice I was missing for the subsequent−"

"Ergh..." Guilt prickled into Kiba's chest. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Maybe you could like, make some noise every now and then? You know, like some indication that you're there."

"We've been comrades and teammates for so long that I can now tell when you have awoken from sleep," Shino deadpanned.

"Wow really? 'Cause that's just a tiny bit creepy, I mean, I guess Akamaru can too but he's my partner so− oh hey, Hinata!" Breaking into a trot, Kiba caught up to where Hinata was leaning over a ring toss stand.

"Ah hello, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun," she greeted kindly, though her focus was elsewhere.

"You're playing a ring toss game?" Kiba asked curiously, gazing down at the empty sake bottles that were arranged in parallel rows.

Nodding in response, she returned to calculating the precise force and accuracy for the three red rings in her hand. She pulled one ring in between her thumb and index finger and poised it like a Frisbee.

"Oh I understand now!" Kiba snapped his fingers as the revelation struck him. "You're trying to win that thing," he pointed at a small frog plushie, "and then give it as a gift to Naruto!"

A blush bloomed to her cheeks and her stance faltered.

"N-No! That's not it!" Needless to say, the first ring flew vertically in the air and then slipped in between two bottles. It landed on the ground with a quiet thud.

Kiba rubbed his head sheepishly. "Ah...that was close?"

Hinata quickly regained her composure and narrowed her eyes; taking a deep breath, she threw the second ring. It swung around the top of the neck before flipping off and plummeting to the floor. Disappointment filled her exhalation.

"Oh come on, that was so close ya gotta give it to her! We got a girl in love here!"

"Kiba-kun!" She blushed again, burrowing the lower half of her face in her hands.

"Hinata, I believe in your abilities," Shino spoke up from behind them and gave her a curt nod.

She peered over to him, feeling the confidence emanating from behind his glasses. Slowly straightening up, she rolled her shoulders back and positioned herself again. "I can do it," she reaffirmed.

"Yeah, do your best Hinata!" Kiba pumped his fist into the air. "Do it for−mmph!"

"I do not believe you should break her concentration," Shino calmly said, gingerly pulling his hand back and grimacing at where Kiba had bit him, the sticky saliva slick on his palm.

With a delicate flick of her wrist, the ring sailed gracefully through the air and swiveled around the bottle's neck, settling down against the glass with a decisive clink.

"Nice job!" Kiba wrapped his arm over her shoulder as the Hyūga beamed brightly. "You did it!"

"Congratulations miss." The game attendant grinned. "You can select any of these prizes," he said, gesturing towards the wall of stuffed animals behind him.

"Oh oh, get that giant dog! Or maybe the giant bunny, you like those right?"

"U-Um, Kiba-kun..."

"'No wait the giant dog is definitely better, it even resembles Akamaru a bit!" He leaned down to pat his partner affectionately on the head.

Hinata didn't say anything, reverting back to her habit of twiddling her fingers together. "Kiba-kun...um well, if you want, I could get the dog for you," she offered politely.

"Wow, really?" His eyebrows rose.

Shino strolled up from behind and wedged himself between them. "Kiba, she's taking your feelings into consideration. Clearly she has something else in mind, because−"

"Oh!" Chuckling awkwardly, Kiba waved his hands dismissively. "No don't listen to me, get whatever you want! It's fine, I promise. "

She tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure?"

"Yup, I am."

So with a light-red hue on her cheeks, Hinata pointed towards the small frog, ignoring the "I knew it!" that spilled from Kiba's lips.

"Are you sure Miss? That's the consolation prize we give to the children so they don't get upset," the attendant explained.

"What?" She deflated.

"It's fine, it's the only frog," Shino instantly interjected, "Naruto will like it." Before she could protest, he took it out of the attendant's fingers and gently placed it into Hinata's palm.

"Come on guys," Kiba's boisterous voice called as he waved his hand towards the rest of the festival. "We still got some time before all the rookies meet up to watch the fireworks, so let's check everything else out!"

The booth games, mask stands, and festival music were fun, but in Kiba's opinion everything paled in comparison to the food. Nonetheless, he still had a great time: the highlight occurring when they were scooping goldfish from an inflatable pool and Shino's bugs began creeping out of his pores. As the bugs dipped into the water and encased the surface in buzzing black specks, the resulting blood-curdling screams could probably be heard in the neighboring village. Much to Shino's chagrin, Kiba doubled over in laughter as the grumpy old man tending to the booth banned Shino from stepping foot into any goldfish-scooping hut. Ever.

It was when they were leaving the takoyaki stand, which they were frequenting for the second time that night, that Kiba noticed Hinata lagging behind.

"Oi Hinata, what's the hold up?" He called from a distance away. When it appeared she didn't hear him, he jogged up to her. Akamaru followed suit, looking up at her and wagging his tail.

"Kiba-kun, hi," she acknowledged softly.

He blinked at the melancholic look that dusted her eyes. "Hey, is something wrong?"

Greeted with silence, Kiba shifted his gaze to follow her line of vision. Sai, Naruto, and Sakura−who was clutching a giant stuffed frog, stood off to the side of the streets, their faces just visible under the lantern's orange light.

"Naruto, this really isn't necessary. I mean it's cute and I appreciate the thought, but you should have gotten something for yourself instead..."

"Nah it's fine, I want you to have it. What would I do with a stuffed animal anyways?"

"I don't know, have it sit in the corner of your room? Besides you already paid for a lot of my things today."

Sai pouted. "Hey, how come I didn't receive this special treatment?"

"Oh, it's always been this weird, unspoken agreement that I empty my wallet for you every summer festival so I just thought this year was the same... And Sai, you're a guy! Pay for yourself."

"Why's that matter? You're dickless but still paying."

"That was when we were kids Naruto! I wanted some compensation from going on a 'date' with you. It's not like that anymore."

"Oh...well," Naruto paused, reeling back words in his head, "Okay."

Thick dismay lathered Naruto's three simple words. Even Kiba realize that having Hinata hear him was like leading a moth to an open flame. Kiba tugged on Hinata's forearm and pulled her away. He opened his mouth to speak, but on this rare occasion of thinking his actions through, he closed it abruptly. Surprisingly, Hinata initiated conversation.

"Um...you know, I don't feel so well, a-and um...don't think it was just because of...this," she motioned her hand behind her, "Because honestly, I wasn't feeling well all evening. I think I'm going to head home. But don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine tomorrow. Kiba-kun, please tell Shino-kun my goodbyes and enjoy the fireworks," Hinata spoke quickly and with the usual grace she carried, but the controlled tremor didn't go unnoticed.

"No Hinata wait, don't go." He shook his head firmly and grasped for her wrist.

But she had already made her decision; she turned around and shot him a tight smile, gently wriggling out of his hold. "Please...have fun. I don't wish to be a burden on your night." Without leaving any room for rebuts and retorts, Hinata ducked into a crowd and disappeared from Kiba's sight.

"Damn it, Hinata! Come back!" He bolted after her, unaware of the three heads that turned back to look at him.

* * *

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The Hyūga compound was more convoluted than he remembered, and it didn't help that the flower gardens and general scent of lavender somewhat masked his sense of smell.

"Hinata," he called out quietly, wary of keeping his voice down to not alert the other Hyūga of his presence. Akamaru yipped more softly as well, the sound of his light footfalls behind Kiba. Last thing he needed was to be "kindly escorted" out of there after sprinting all the way to her home.

When he reached more familiar territory, his mind pieced together vague directions to her room and his nose took care of the rest. "Ah ha, there you are," he muttered, peeking down from his perch on the roof to see Hinata sitting on the veranda with her legs folded beneath her, still dressed in her light purple yukata. The loud clack of his sandals connecting with her hardwood floor jolted her attention to him, and a strange, unpleasant feeling clenched in his chest when he saw her pale eyes glimmering.

"K-Kiba-kun! What are you doing here?" She straightened up and hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Pointing a finger at him, she spoke again, "You...You're going to miss the fireworks and you know you love them, so...go," she urged.

Mirroring her, he pointed an accusatory finger at her too. "I know you love them too, so I'm not going if you don't! That way we're even!"

She opened her mouth in a retort, but hesitated, choosing instead to look down at her lap and sighed. "Then...I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm really just overreacting."

"No big deal," he waved her off reassuringly. "I'm happy to be here, it's a miracle I managed to sneak past everyone's Byakugan..."

They sat in silence together, and while the peace was comfortable, Kiba was never one to sit still for too long.

"Do you...remember that time when Akamaru got really sick, you know, when he was throwing up everywhere? He had an intestinal parasite and I was so worried about him." He patted his companion's head as the canine shifted towards him.

"I was a mess− crying all over the place. I was losing my best friend, I promised to protect Akamaru and was miserable when I realized…that I couldn't. You and Shino tried to comfort me everyday. Looking back on it...it's kinda embarrassing, but I would probably do the same if it happened again." The ninja dog whined, nuzzling Kiba's hand with his warm muzzle. "Luckily they managed to whip up some special medication to treat him. But the point is, when I was feeling down in the dumps, you and Shino were with me every step of the way."

"Yes, I remember," Hinata replied, a small smile on her face.

"And do you remember that time Shino got upset about his Taijutsu skills? That guy...he has so much pride. He tried shutting us out at first but in the end we helped him get back to his feet, neh?" Kiba suddenly shuddered. "That's also the first time I realized to never go into the hot springs with him, it was like tonight's disaster at the goldfish game except about...ten times worse."

He managed to get a giggle to escape out of Hinata's lips, and he smiled in turn.

"Anyways, I'm not really good with words. What I'm tryin' to get at is that…Team 8 is well, a team. Yeah that means we're comrades and battle partners but we're also best friends that support each other. So if you feel like you want to share how you're feeling…we're all ears." Akamaru yipped his assent, his tail thumping against the floor.

"It's about time you two noticed me..." A figure stated, climbing out of the shadows. Kiba nearly jumped out of his skin and pointed an affronted finger at the newcomer.

"Hey! What did we discuss earlier about showing indications that you're here!"

"I do not think you are in the position to nitpick after _you left me alone_ and went to comfort Hinata by yourself," Shino bluntly informed, though the overflowing agitation in his words was as apparent as a blazing fire in a forest.

"Shino-kun...you're going to miss the fireworks too." Hinata frowned.

He shrugged, hands remaining in his pockets. "That is of no importance, there are more pressing matters over here."

After Shino's abrupt entrance, Team 8 lapsed into another spell of peace. Shino may have been an expert in patience, but Kiba was having difficultly making sure his mouth was locked tightly shut until Hinata chose to open up first. As he counted the vertical lines engrained on the planks of wood, she murmured something under her breath, so lowly that even Akamaru had difficultly picking it up.

"What? Hinata, could you repeat that again?"

She sighed, but obeyed. "I said...I should have gotten you the stuffed dog."

"Huh?" His face contorted in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I-It means...well. At least I still could have done something nice for someone," she admitted.

"Is this about what Naruto said? Listen, Hinata, we just came in at a bad time, if you give that doll to him I'm certain he'll love it."

Hinata shook her head somberly. "It's not just that, there's something else that has been on my mind for a while now."

Her teammates scooted forward, though stopped to give her some space when they saw her face heat up to a bright shade of vermillion.

"You two know that I like, no...I l-love, um..."

"Hold affection for Naruto," Shino finished.

"Y-Yes, that. It has been over a year and a half since I confessed to him and we still haven't bridged the topic yet. Lately, I've been thinking about how much time...how many winters have passed since I started pining for him," she paused, and took a deep breath.

"The answer is so many that I have lost count, and it seems like it will always be this way. My one-sided, unrequited affections, is something I need to accept." Her eyelids lowered and she situated herself in a way that showed only her side profile. "In the end it seems, I am not a person he is attracted to, and honestly, who can blame him when half the time I can't be normal and hold a decent conversation?"

"'Hinata no!" Kiba slammed his fist down to the floor, startling everyone in the room. His fangs shone especially white under the moonlight. "You've come so far from who you used to be! I will not let you talk yourself down like that."

A genuine smile spread across her lips. "Thank you, Kiba-kun. But ah, I'm not talking myself down. I'm just thinking that when Naruto finds love, I should expect that it…will not be with me. It may be Sakura-san, or not, maybe someone else with a similar disposition. At first, when I thought about it I couldn't help but feel a crippling weight in my heart. I wanted to erase the scenes of him with another person that I imagined in my head but I just...couldn't. Just couldn't," she repeated delicately, like the words would fall away into wisps of dust. She scrunched up her yukata in between her fingers. "Then I thought about Naruto some more, about how he's inspired me, _changed me_ so much without even knowing it, and it suddenly became clear to me: I'm already blessed enough to be able to walk beside him as a friend, and that's more than enough for me."

Hinata looked up, directly meeting both Shino and Kiba's terse faces. "All I wish, is for him to be happy."

The corner of her eyes began to pool with moisture, threatening to spill over her rosy cheeks. Kiba's own heart broke looking at the pain reflected in Hinata's eyes, quivering under the moonlight. The bounds of Hinata's selflessness should have been inhumanly possible.

"I'm pathetic aren't I?" She whispered as one tear slipped down her face. A stream of others soon followed it. Slowly at first, but it didn't take long for the tears to rain down in continuous rivulets. "I've already got all this figured out, but here I am, still crying over the happy ending I settled on."

Her breath hitched and she maneuvered her legs so that she could hug her knees to her body and bury her head. Sobs wracked her petite form, and though she tried hard to quell them, they emerged as hiccups instead.

"Dammit!" Kiba seethed, his fingernails clawing against the floor as he fell on all fours. "That Naruto...I am so gonna kick his ass for being such an _idiot_."

"Kiba-kun, please don't..." Hinata said softly, the plea in her tone barely enough to calm the rage bubbling inside him. "As two of my closest friends, I trust the both of you not to let what I've confessed affect how you normally are..."

"How can I not let it affect me when I see how upset he made you?!" He growled.

It was Shino's turn to placate him; the bug-user placed a firm hand on Kiba's shoulder and shoved him back on his rump. "Kiba, calm down. I am certain that Naruto would be equally, if not even more upset, if he knew of his own impact. Which is exactly what Hinata wishes to hide." Despite his careful reasoning and collected demeanor, his insects crawled out of him as their host's body temperature drastically rose.

"Shino-kun..."

"Wait so− is that it? Are you giving up on him now?"

She hesitated, hunching into herself a little more. "I...I don't think I can. I've loved him for so long that my feelings cannot disappear so quickly. I'm not giving up my love, no. But at the same time I'm preparing myself for the worst. What's the point of falling so hard if he's not ready, or willing, to catch me?"

Her hands moved to her robe, and she pulled out the frog plushie, cupping it in her hands. "In truth, it is going to be very hard for me to feel this way about anyone else, there's only so many people that can flip your world upside down. However, I shouldn't, no I_ can't_ accept simply being a consolation prize because he couldn't get his first pick. I have to be strong." She squeezed its cotton-stuffed body. The green fabric bulged between her fingers.

For once, Kiba was the one at a loss of words. He exchanged a glance with Shino, who had his own face tightly controlled.

"In that case, know that we will always support you, in whichever path you choose to take."

"Eh?" Hinata looked at Shino, drying her eyes with the sleeve of her yukata.

Shino removed his hands from their customary positions in his pockets and placed one over her pale hand, and the other over Kiba's. "If you choose to pursue Naruto, we will help you. If you choose to move on to other waters, we will also help you. If your priority is Naruto's happiness, then our priority is _your_ happiness."

Her eyes widened.

"Out of respect for you, I shall remain impartial. However, I personally find no bigger fool than Naruto for missing what is in front of him," Shino continued, giving Hinata's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Shino-kun...Kiba-kun, thank you." The smile didn't quite return to her features but she returned the strength of his grip.

"Hey, Hinata," Kiba carefully moved so that his hand was still linked to Shino's and squatted in front of her. "Is it okay if I...see that frog?"

"Sure." She held it open to him: a green frog with round, goofy eyes.

"Is it okay if...you give it to me anyways? To me, it's worth a lot more than a consolation prize."

She didn't reply immediately, roving her eyes over the doll in her hands. After giving it a hard stare, she lifted the frog and placed it into Kiba's palm, closing his warm fingers over its body. "Yes, you may."

"Thank you, I'll treasure it always, I promise," he declared resolutely.

Hinata's pale eyes crinkled happily. "I'm glad that you're in such a good mood, Kiba-kun."

The fireworks exploded into vibrant life in front of them. The bright reds, oranges and blues sparkled in the night sky before being followed by loud cracks and booms. As the dazzling colors faded into the backdrop, more bursts of light followed suit. Yes, they were beautiful and mesmerizing as usual, but paled in comparison to the company of each other. Contrary to Hinata's warnings, no one in Team 8 missed anything this year.

* * *

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**Author's Note:** You can ignore this part if you want. I was pretty hesitant to upload this, mostly because I've become somewhat shy of my writing. But, I wanted to explore the idea of Hinata becoming her own person and having Naruto realize his affections are not because Hinata reflects his ideals/Sakura doesn't love him/Hinata "deserves" to be rewarded−no, rather, something else much more basic and honest. Plus, that whole "ignoring her confession for 2 years because he was oblivious" before The Last isn't convincingly realistic to me. (I still haven't watched the movie since I bought movie tickets for it). To try to view the whole picture, I looked at NaruSaku wikis and well, frankly the ship was possible. It just never appealed to me because I have friendships in real life similar to NaruSaku: And when I say I have no romantic attraction to them it's plainly the truth. But I think the possibility of NaruSaku adds an interesting dimension to NaruHina because it opens the door to potential insecurities to resolve and growth to discover.

Reviews are appreciated of course, I always like to see if my stories actually interest people, but you don't have to if you don't want to.


	2. Sakura's Heart: To Fall on Thin Ice

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Sakura's Heart: To Fall on Thin Ice

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* * *

Light filtered through the blinds, casting thin slits of sun over Sakura's sleeping form. She stirred, her green eyes blinking open. As her mind slowly registered the morning washing over her room, she scrambled up in a tangle of sheets. Panic surged into her as the prospect of being late for her shift zipped into her mind. But as she organized her mess of thoughts, she remembered that Tsunade-sama had given her the day after the summer festival off. It was probably more for the Hokage's sake than hers...she knew that her teacher had no doubt spent the previous night drinking and gambling.

"Well, since I'm up already, might as well start the day," she reasoned, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and stretching her arms up high.

Memories of last night flooded back to her as she began her morning routine. Everything had unfolded relatively normally, except for the fact that the entirety of Team 8 had missed the fireworks display. When Kiba's raucous voice and Hinata and Shino's calming presences failed to arrive, she and the rest of the rookies searched every nook and cranny for the tracking specialists. Shikamaru stayed especially on edge when he thought that something might have happened to Kurenai-sensei.

As a result, they were scattered when the fireworks began blossoming in the sky. While Sakura marveled at the beauty of the lights, Naruto consecutively sneezed next to her. She was about to berate him for being noisy and ruining the atmosphere…but let her chastisement fade away when she noticed his expression. Blue eyes conflicted, he admitted that it just wasn't the same with Hinata missing the fireworks she loved, again.

She unconsciously slowed in brushing her teeth, the white foam dripping off her toothbrush and trailing down her sink. She hadn't thought much of Team 8's disappearance at the time− after all, they were ninja and things do come up− but maybe there was more to it. Sakura spat out toothpaste and rinsed her mouth before splashing cool water onto her face.

When she exited the bathroom to pick clothes from her closet, she couldn't help but flit her eyes towards the giant frog plushie tucked in the corner of her room. No…it couldn't have been, she thought, reminding herself that she was grasping at straws. But her self-reassurance did little to alleviate the wave of inexplicable confusion and guilt that rolled through her.

She took a deep breath as she picked up her forehead protector from her vanity and wrapped it in her hair, tying the red fabric in a secure knot. No matter…she could see Hinata herself today and ask what happened. She needed to find her anyways. No need to create a big deal in her head…right? She turned her thoughts to her agenda, which consisted of tracking down a small list of people for a certain best friend of hers.

Before leaving her room, Sakura gave her reflection an once-over and smiled. Everything was going to be okay, she was sure of it.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

As the volume of "YOUTH!" increased, Sakura knew she would stumble upon Team Gai soon. When Sakura stepped into the training grounds, the crisp "thwock" of kunai lodging into target dummies added to the soundtrack.

The weapons master smiled when she saw Sakura approaching, folding her scrolls and pocketing her kunai. "Hey Sakura-san, what's up?"

"Sakura-chan!" Lee flashed her a brilliant grin before resuming his one-handed push-ups. "One, two, three, YOUTH! One, two, three, YOUTH," he chanted, sweat dripping from the tip of his nose.

"Wow, Lee-san sure is energetic today. Or actually, this might just be normal," Sakura noted, nodding in his direction.

Tenten followed her gaze. "He usually is pretty crazy, but he's going all out today. We've just been notified that they're looking for a replacement for our team...anytime Gai-sensei or Lee hear anything that has to do with Neji, they go into overdrive. It's like his name is an energy drink," she chuckled to herself, though a tender…ache reflected in her dark eyes.

"Tenten-san? Are you okay?"

Tenten blinked, swatting her hand dismissively. "Yeah, I am. I'm okay," she pulled on a bright smile. "So what can I do for you today?"

"O-Oh okay. Well, Ino's birthday is coming up soon, and I wanted to throw together a small surprise party for her," Sakura explained.

"Oh! That's so thoughtful of you, I'd love to help." She clasped her hands together.

Sakura beamed. "That's great! I was thinking about having me, you, Hinata, and Ino get dressed up together like we're going to have a girls night out, Ino loves those things, and then stop by at her house where Chouji and Shikamaru would have gathered all her friends to surprise her. She'll never suspect it. Which reminds me, have you seen Hinata lately?"

Tenten shook her head. "Can't say I have. I might have seen her from afar sometime yesterday with Kiba and Shino, but they never showed up for the fireworks."

"Ah, I see... I tried finding her in the Hyūga compound earlier, but her father told me that Hinata had been out since early morning."

"Oh hm," Tenten placed her thumb and index finger to her chin, "I guess that's not too odd though, Hinata tends to be an early riser. She used to do morning training everyday with Neji."

The pink-haired girl hummed. "Hinata is as impressive as ever, still working so hard." _I'm worrying about nothing_, she thought, lightening the weight that pressed on her chest.

A sudden, battle-cry worthy yell cut their conversation short. Both kunoichi turned their attention towards Lee.

"One, two, three, YOUTH! One, two three, YOUTH! ...I did it." Lee collapsed onto the grass, still wet with morning dew, and rolled onto his back. He thrust a thumbs-up into the air, his fist covering the yellow sphere of the sun. "I completed 1,000 consecutive one-handed push-ups. Neji would be proud."

"Lee! Don't overexert yourself already, we still have a lot of training to do today," Tenten chided, rolling her eyes, but she nonetheless wore a proud smirk.

Sakura smiled at the pair before turning back to Tenten. "I'm afraid I must be off, I still got to find the others. I'll keep you updated on the plans."

She bid her farewell to the remainder of Team Gai and sought out Shikamaru and Chouji. Both of them were lounging in Shikamaru's living room when she knocked on the Nara residence's door.

"A surprise party? Sounds so troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed.

"I vote for the barbeque house!"

Sakura ran a hand through her hair. "Last time I talked to her she said she was on a diet, I don't know if she'd like the temptation."

"She doesn't need to diet," Chouji said in between mouthfuls of chips. "Besides, it's her birthday, and even if she can't admit it we know that she loves stuffing herself with barbeque."

She brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Fine, we can go to barbeque after. But in exchange can you get Shikamaru on board? The girls can take care of all the decorating, I just need you two to gather all her friends and dump them in her house. Oh, but make sure everyone looks…presentable."

"Sure, sure no problem," Chouji grinned. "Don't worry about Shikamaru, he always ends up getting roped into things anyways. I think he secretly enjoys being included."

"Oi, don't speak for me when I'm right here," Shikamaru drawled, however, he didn't refute any of the claims.

"By the way, have either of you seen Hinata?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Not recently, I checked up on Kurenai-sensei earlier today and she said her team didn't come around last night. Not sure where the three of them disappeared to yesterday."

"Why don't you ask Naruto?" Chouji suggested.

Sakura huffed. "Naruto that idiot, I doubt he could notice anything even if it was shoved in his face."

Chouji laughed heartily, digging his hand into the bag to pick up crumbs with his fingertips. "You don't notice 'cause you're always by him. You've developed this perception of him as a slow idiot."

"He _is_ a slow idiot."

"He can be, yes," Chouji nodded in agreement. "But he pays attention to Hinata. He gets super worried and protective over her."

"Oh?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. She leafed through memories in her mind. Hinata's Chuunin battle, her confrontation against Pain, and even her disappearance last night. Huh. Maybe the idiot had made more progress than she gave him credit for. "Hm. Okay, I'll go look for him."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

It wasn't particularly difficult to find Naruto despite his vagabond tendency to wander around. Luckily, she managed to peg him at the first item on the list of "Most Likely Places Naruto Would Be": Ichiraku Ramen.

"Hinata?" He said quizzically, pausing in slurping up his noodles.

"Yes, Hinata," Sakura repeated. "Have you seen her?"

"Hmm..." Naruto wiped ramen broth from the corner of his lips. "No, not lately. Why? Did something happen to her? Does she need to go to the hospital Sakura-chan?" Concerned eyes widened as his chopsticks clacked against the table.

"No, at least, I don't think so." Her forehead creased as she too considered the possibility of Hinata being hurt. "It's nothing really, I just wanted to invite her to something," she explained.

Naruto visibly relaxed. "Oh, okay. I did see Kiba earlier...he was acting weird. It was like he either wanted to punch me or get away from me, maybe whatever bug that bit Sasuke in the butt bit him too."

Sakura laughed. "Why didn't you ask him about it?"

"I was gonna!" He sniffed indignantly. "But he just shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched away, hmph. Anyways, I can help you look for Hinata."

"Nah, you'd get in the way," she said cheekily, feeling no remorse at the resulting puppy-dog pout.

"No I promise I won't! I've got great Hinata-senses," he protested.

"Yeah, and Sasuke-kun's 'Sakura-senses' are going to tell him to serenade me at my window and throw flowers at me," she replied flatly.

"Is that what you want? I could put in a word for you−"

"Goodbye Naruto."

"W-Wait, Sakura-chan don't be so heartless!" He stumbled out of his chair and face-planted to the ground. "Ow..."

Sakura crossed her arms over her stomach. "I can't believe a ninja of your level is still tripping over his feet," she started, but stopped abruptly.

Naruto stood up to fish through his pockets and dropped a handful of bills on the counter. Her mouth dropped open. She had never seen Naruto of all people not finish his ramen.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The sun's hot rays were beginning to beat down, causing beads of sweat to prickle on the back of her neck. Clouds rolled past overhead, offering some reprieve by dappling the pavement with bouts of shade. The pair had roamed around a decent portion of Konoha before Naruto recommended that they return back to where he had bumped into Kiba. After a bit more aimless ambling, they soon saw her coming out of a forest path. Perhaps he _did _have good Hinata-senses.

"Hinata!" Sakura called, waving in her direction and walking towards her. "We've been looking for you!"

Hinata stilled at her voice, slowly craning her neck back. "Ah, good morning, Sakura-san, Naruto-kun." She bowed politely.

"Hinata!" His loud voice boomed as he came up from behind, Sakura swore that one day her teammate would burst her eardrums. "Where did you go last night? Are you alright?"

The usual reaction typically consisted of Hinata stuttering, blushing, and well, leaving. But this time, Hinata tilted her head upwards and met Naruto's eyes, not saying anything as her lips curved into a thin smile. Her eyes were intense, yet not unkind, as if she was crushing glass shards in her hands and trying to conceal the pain.

Even Naruto noticed her odd expression, confusion etching his features. "Eh? Is there something on my face? Oh, maybe there's seaweed in between my teeth, I was eating an early lunch before." Naruto swiped his tongue over his teeth.

"No you're fine, Naruto-kun, it's nothing. Anyways, I'm sorry for disappearing like that yesterday and making everyone worry. It's...my fault that my team was missing. How were the fireworks from your vantage point?" Hinata's smile curved a bit tighter.

Sakura moved to speak but Naruto beat her to it. "They were pretty! Bright and flashy like last year. But..." He scratched at his cheek nervously. "I felt guilty, and worried, that you weren't there."

That familiar blush surfaced to Hinata's cheeks and the boldness in her gaze reverted to a shyness. "It's okay, y-you shouldn't have been. It's not your fault." She averted her eyes. "I'm sorry you two, I must get going." She kept her tone cheerful, but it was plain as day that her wan smile would shatter as soon as no one was watching.

Once she had walked a fair distance away, Naruto spoke up, "Huh...that was kinda weird."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, only half-listening.

"The conversation just felt...incomplete. Like there was a lot more on her mind."

Sakura remained quiet, mulling over his words and coming to the disquieting conclusion that...Naruto was right.

"Hinata!" She cried, speeding off in the direction she had gone. Familiar footfalls could be heard from behind her, and she skidded to a stop. Whirling around, she affixed Naruto with a glare. "You're not coming this time! Girl talk."

"Whaaat!" He stretched out the word. "How'd I mess up this time?"

The medic-nin frowned. "I don't know, but I have the feeling she doesn't want to see you right now," she said bluntly. This time, she did feel remorse from his crestfallen expression.

"So you think it has something to do with me too?" He said uncharacteristically softly.

"No, I−I said I didn't know." Her words fell to deaf ears, and she honestly did not know what else to say. "I'm going to lose her at this rate, so I got to go," she spun around and ran off, her own steady footsteps the only sound that followed her.

While her feet ran laps around Konoha, her mind muddled through _why _every fiber in her being demanded that she _must_ seek out Hinata. It didn't take long for Sakura to realize that Hinata strayed away from the Hyūga compound and carefully hid her chakra pattern. In spite of her guilt for leaving Naruto confused and desperate for answers, she cursed him for slowing her down enough to lose Hinata!

She halted in her running, resting her hands on her knees as she waited for her breaths to even out. "Hinata..." She murmured, swallowing gulps of air.

"She wishes to be alone," a voice stated plainly.

Jerking her head up, she found herself face to face with Shino Aburame. "Shino?! When did you get here?"

His brow furrowed. "...I happened to be on the side of the road when you stopped to rest. You didn't notice me."

"Oh, sorry," she pulled an apologetic smile.

He sighed…at this point he should be unsurprised. "It is of no matter, I suppose. Back to the matter at hand, why are you searching for Hinata?"

Sakura ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "I-I don't know, I feel like there's something wrong− and I just want to see her."

Shino considered her, his eyes piercing her even through his tinted glasses. The silence spiraled into discomfort, at least on her end. Maybe Shino communicated through bouts of silence and hard stares. But before Sakura could formulate a way to politely excuse herself, he finally spoke up.

"She is most likely in the forest. Amongst the branches of a tall tree," he supplied, lifting his chin to the right.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Her hair was a mess. Her skin too probably, after the dirty brambles and thorns she waded through to get into the forest. It didn't matter, it was worth it.

"Sakura-san?" She tentatively asked, bewilderment saturating her eyes.

"Yes, Hinata. Hi." Sakura wiped the sweat off her brow, then made a futile attempt to smooth her hair down.

"What are you doing here?" She queried, her eyebrows knitting in confusion.

"Uh," Her mouth ran dry as she became conscious of how ridiculous she must have looked. "Because..."

Hinata looked up at her patiently, frowning when she noticed the bright cut on her forehead. "Did you hurt yourself getting here?" The Hyūga immediately hopped to her feet and brushed locks of pink hair to the side.

Sakura instinctively put a hand to her forehead, slick with hot sweat and warm liquid. She pulled her hand back to inspect the glistening blood. "Oh, I guess. It's just a small cut, it's nothing."

Hinata fiddled with her pouch and pulled out a brown jar. "Would you mind if I put some ointment on your forehead? It'll help the wound heal faster." She stepped closer towards the medic-nin and unscrewed the lid.

"It's okay, it's really not that serious." Sakura smiled at her friend's sincerity− Hinata practically oozed out kindness.

Shaking her head, Hinata dipped her finger in the smooth, white ointment. "I insist," she encouraged.

The strong smell of spearmint permeated Sakura's nose. She didn't lean away as Hinata applied the medication. When she finished, Hinata pocketed the container and smiled...just a bit too forcefully.

What she had stated earlier to Shino suddenly returned in full force. "Hey Hinata, let's get lunch together?" She blurted out.

"Eh?" Shock colored her white eyes. "Did you come all the way here to ask me that?"

"Getting here wasn't troublesome at all." Sakura chuckled bashfully. "So what do you say?" She lifted her arm to sheepishly rub the back of her neck, exposing more scruffs and bruises. Sakura watched Hinata's eyes travel to her scratches, the Hyūga's lips twisting into a frown.

It was unintentional, Sakura didn't mean for the guilt card to come into play or even to have one, but it did work out in her favor. Hinata nodded, just a touch hesitantly, before reaching for Sakura's hand and gripping onto it as they jumped out of the tree.

They settled on a quaint bakery on the outskirts of Konoha, both girls requested milk tea, then Hinata and Sakura ordered cinnamon buns and mocha roll cakes respectively.

"Ah, for once I'm not confined to only eating ramen," Sakura exclaimed, biting into her cake with fervor. The sweet smell of confectionery sugar floated through the cafe.

Hinata giggled, a cute, girlish laugh that suited her petite nature. "How often do you eat ramen?"

"Once a week _minimum_." Sakura narrowed her eyes in frustration. "That's not to say there haven't been days when it was ramen breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Ah, but it's a way for Team 7 to bond isn't it?" She said, delicately neutral.

She popped a piece of cake into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Creamy chocolate filling soaked into her tongue. "When you put it that way, I suppose so."

Hinata made an agreeable hum but didn't say anything more, opting to cut her cinnamon bun into pieces.

After a stretch of comfortable silence, Sakura perked her head up as her original intents flooded back to her. "Oh yeah! Hinata, Do you remember that Ino's birthday is coming up?"

Wiping off cinnamon dust from her lips with a napkin, she put a finger to her lips. "Yes, in late September, correct?"

"Yup! I was planning to hold a surprise party for her."

"Is that why you wanted to see me?" Hinata's shoulders loosened and she sat up straighter.

"Mhmm. I was thinking about having the four girls in our group get dressed up like we're going to have a girls night out, and then stop by at her house where Chouji and Shikamaru would have gathered all her friends to surprise her." She took a sip of her milk tea and casually gestured at the shyer girl. "She'll never suspect it, especially since she pounces on any chance to doll you up. Not that you aren't a hottie already."

A grin spread across her lips at Hinata's reddening face, she could understand why Kiba liked teasing her so much.

"S-Sure I'll be happy to help you. Although, I don't know about that last part..." Her eyes shifted to the food on her plate and her fingers fidgeted.

Sakura laughed, a mischievous twinkle entering her green eyes. "Good good, don't worry, that Ino-pig knows exactly what to do to make sure that idiot Naruto can't take his eyes off of you."

The shift in the air was nearly tangible. Hinata's hands stilled in her lap and she refused to meet her gaze.

"Hinata?" Sakura said, worry seeping into her face. She poked said girl with the wrapped straw she hadn't bothered to use. "Is something on your mind?"

Hinata shook her head. "Everything's fine," she stated evenly.

"You're a bad liar," Sakura informed her, crossing her arms below her chest. "We're friends aren't we? You can trust me. O-Of course y-you don't have to if you don't want to," she added as an afterthought, reminding herself that brash and forceful may only be effective on Naruto and Ino.

With a resigned sigh, Hinata peered up at Sakura and offered her a tiny smile. "Yes, you're right we are friends. It's just...a little embarrassing."

"Nothing you can tell me would be embarrassing, Hinata!" Sakura mirrored Hinata's smile with her own encouraging one.

"O-Okay...it's just that," she exhaled another sigh. "If Ino-san wanted to make it so that Naruto's eyes never left me..." Hinata's brow scrunched up, as if it sounded so foreign in her mind. "Then she would have to change a lot more than my appearance. She'd have to change my shyness, my darkness, my weird nature...essentially, everything. All of me."

"Stop that train of thought right there," Sakura criss-crossed her arms into an 'X' shape. "Hinata what would ever make you think that? I think that the whole shy-girl thing you've got going on is very endearing."

The girl in question shrugged. "Maybe to some people it is. But that's not the type of...you know who."

Sakura's shoulders tightened, chest rising and muscles taut. She never imagined that she could feel so frustrated towards the sweet Hyūga. "How could you, someone who is brave enough to lay her life down _twice _for another, namely _him_, not be his type?! He was worried sick about you−"

"He does not owe me anything," Hinata cut off in a firm command. "It was entirely my own free will to protect him with my life. I don't want him to feel the need to return my feelings because I protected him, as if I _deserve_ some compensation."

The edges of her eyes softened and a blush brushed her cheeks. "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you, Sakura-chan. That was rude of me."

Sakura pursed her lips, but refrained from speaking as Hinata unwound her thoughts.

"Besides, I am not the person he is attracted to. Nor, am I anything like the person he is attracted to." Hinata kept her eyes on her lap. "With the one-and-a-half year mark since I confessed to him recently passing...it feels clearer to me."

"The person he is attracted to? You don't mean−" Sakura froze mid-sentence. All the puzzle pieces drifted into place. "Wait did you...did you see us yesterday at the summer festival? Is that why you left? Why all of Team 8 left?"

Hinata avoided her gaze and returned to twiddling her fingers. "Yes," she reluctantly admitted, "I still feel bad that Kiba-kun and Shino-kun chose to miss the fireworks for my sake."

"I don't know what you saw but it wasn't anything. Naruto doesn't like me like that anymore, I'm pretty sure of it," Sakura barreled on, ignoring the fact that Hinata was answering her rhetorical questions. "'Come on Hinata, we both should know how hard it is for a girl's heart to waver once they're set on someone."

Hinata pursed her lips. "I-I'm not saying that I don't love him anymore, no quite the contrary, I still do. So much. I just...think I shouldn't pursue it anymore. I'm walking on thin ice and I'm going to fall one day."

How many times had Sakura repeated those same words to herself? Cold, onyx eyes surfaced to her mind. His lips pressed into a hard line, only opening to utter two words: _"You're annoying." _Like a match lit ablaze, the coldness in his eyes morphed into the most fearsome, hateful glare she'd ever been on the receiving end of.

"There's all this evidence stacked against me, and maybe I should...finally acknowledge it," she finished with a slump of her shoulders.

The crackling chirp of a Chidori grew in intensity. On instinct, she whirled around, only to be faced with sparking lightning inches away from her face; the most wild, feral look she's ever seen in his blood-streaked eyes. Who was this man?

Sakura trembled.

"Sakura-san? Are you okay?" Hinata's voice lilted in alarm.

The kunai in her hands was strong and steady. She could do this. The opening was right there. Same as always, focus the chakra into her hands, concentrate so not a single ounce was wasted, and...abandon the memories of the past. Useless memories of chasing down lost dogs, painful memories of clutching onto him−snapping him out of his curse-seal state, strong memories of protecting him from a frenzied Gaara...No...she was weakening. How could this happen? After the journey she embarked on to make herself stronger, her traitorous heart reduced her to the naive little girl all over again.

Tears crept out from the corner of her eyes.

"Sakura!" Hinata jumped to her feet and rushed towards her. She shook her shoulder with one hand while the other slipped between Sakura's quaking fingers.

His fist rammed through her heart. The instant he cast it she could tell it was a genjutsu. But why...? Why was this the reaction to her heartfelt confession? She poured her heart to him, that's what she always did, and all he ever did was let her love sift through his fingers and trickle down the drain.

She finally came to when a warm hand caressed her cheek, a thumb wiped the tears away. "Sakura." The strength in which her name was called snapped Sakura's attention to gentle pale eyes. "It's okay, you're here now, stay with me," Hinata gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and pushed a strand of pink hair behind her ears.

Sakura sniffed, pressing a napkin to her nose. "I'm sorry...that you had to witness that. Pretty embarrassing."

"Not at all," Hinata bowed her head. "If anything I should be the one apologizing for triggering something...unpleasant."

Sakura shook her head 'no,' not wanting to say anything until she was certain her voice could be steady. She barely registered Hinata removing one of her gloves.

"These hands of yours...even though you wear gloves to protect them, they still get calloused." She ran her index finger over the hard bumps on the top of her palms, one under each finger. "But they're always so warm, as if you can feel just how many people you've healed with them."

"It suits you, don't you think? You're a medic-nin to heal, to stitch up people's scars and save their hearts. It's in your nature to want to save even the most hopeless cause. Were you thinking about Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked, carefully saying the words as if she was picking up broken glass.

Sakura nodded, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Sasuke-kun is a very lucky man to have met you. He must not think he's deserving of your forgiveness. But he underestimates how strong you are."

"What do you mean?" Sakura spoke up, unable to reign in her confusion.

"Some people may believe that Sasuke-kun's actions, especially to you and Naruto-kun, are far from redeemable and shun him without a second thought. So I believe that you're incredibly strong to be able to erase the resentment in your heart and see hope. To give_ him_ hopes that he can be good." Hinata gave her a small smile.

A comforting aura naturally radiated around Hinata, pulsing brighter with the words she said. Sakura wanted to unravel her heart and let the scarred flesh bask in her sunlight. "What about you, Hinata? Do you think...that I'm a fool too? Or do you also believe that Sasuke-kun has had a change of heart?"

She didn't respond right away, no doubt thoughtfully selecting her words. "I personally don't...know Sasuke-kun that well. But we've seen...firsthand that your past doesn't necessarily define you. Take the Kazekage-sama, he still is quite reserved but you can see that his eyes now hold kindness. Even Neji-nii san. During the Chuunin exams, he had so much hatred for the main branch that he really wished to harm me. But his heart changed, and his feelings have come full circle since he..." Hinata trailed off, pinpricks of moisture coming into her own eyes. She brushed them away with the back of her hand. "The point is, no one knows for sure. But I believe it is an honest possibility. If he is proven to have really changed, I won't hold his past against him." Hinata moved her hand up to Sakura's shoulder to massage the tense muscles.

A laugh bubbled out of Sakura, startling Hinata. "There's not too many things I agree with Naruto on, but he's definitely onto something when he said that you always know all the right things to say."

Red suited Hinata well, she thought, as her face flamed again. "You're giving me too much credit..."

Sakura laughed, shaking her head. "Don't underestimate yourself like that." Her laughter faded as her face softened. "This is not how I thought today would go," the pink-haired girl confessed.

"Hey, but don't think you're off the hook yet!" She pressed her index finger to Hinata's forehead in an affectionate poke. "Nah uh uh," she pressed a hand to Hinata's protesting lips. "No fluff about 'other people's happiness is all that matters', we need to support each other! I'm certain that Naruto's just hopeless about romance. I'll always be by your side, okay? Believe it."

The small smile on Hinata's face grew a fraction wider, and it was then Sakura knew that despite sprinting, brambles, branches, and embarrassing breakdowns...it didn't matter. It was worth it. Hinata was worth it. Definitely.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

**Author's Note: **Friendships between everyone are precious. I wish there was even more female-friendship development in Naruto besides only SakuIno. Thank you to the people who reviewed the first chapter! They made me feel happy the whole day, and I'm glad that other people love Hinata as much as I do. Updates will be about weekly until my exam schedule becomes horrid.


	3. Sasuke's Impressions: A Silent Promise

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sasuke's Impressions: A Silent Promise

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

The rain thudded rapidly, falling in pace to a crackling rhythm. Droplets ricocheted off the pavement and bounced back like rubber balls before pooling into muddy puddles. Water soaked his poncho and matted his hair to his head. But he hardly cared. He inhaled the thick, humid scent of an impending thunderstorm through his nose.

The tables had turned since their academy days, he thought absently.

Several meters in front of him, fan girls flocked an uneasy Naruto with their umbrellas, urgently fighting each other for him to pick theirs.

"T-Thanks for all the offers but I really don't need any of them! I'm um, almost home."

"Kya! Naruto-kun please let us walk you home!"

While it was...new for dead last to not be considered dead last by the village anymore, Sasuke found he didn't mind this part of their role reversal. At all.

He felt a presence nearing him, a chakra pattern that belonged to neither Sakura nor Kakashi, and instinctively tensed. His muscles flexed imperceptibly, but relaxed once she spoke.

"Naruto-kun sure has gotten popular, hasn't he Sasuke-kun?"

He inclined his head towards her. She was familiar...perhaps from the academy? He couldn't put a name to the face. To be fair, he never paid anyone much attention even back then. But he did remember that the unmistakable white eyes belonged to the Hyūga clan, one that rivaled even his own.

He nodded, not too keen on socializing.

"Welcome back to Konoha, Sasuke-kun. When did you return?"

"A few days ago," he answered.

She hummed in response, catching on to his taciturn preferences.

After a stretch of silence, she held out the handle to a dark purple umbrella. "Here Sasuke-kun, please take this umbrella."

Shaking his head, he pointed towards his idiot of a best friend. "Why don't you go offer it to him," he stated plainly.

Her eyes followed his direction, lips forming a strained smile. "Naruto-kun appears…busy. He doesn't need me anymore."

It dawned on him that he _did _recognize her. She had unwittingly distracted Naruto during the infinite tsukuyomi attack. "No. You must be someone important to him," he voiced his realization out loud.

She jerked slightly, startled by his words. "Ah...I don't know about that. I think Naruto-kun is just a really kind person."

"Anyways, I'm almost at the Hyūga compound, so," she offered the umbrella to him again, the rain pelted both of them while the umbrella shielded the ground. Sasuke reluctantly accepted it.

"Are you afraid to fight them for his attention?" Sasuke asked in spite of himself. He didn't know why he expressed interest.

She shifted her weight, but returned his blank stare. "I wouldn't say I'm afraid. More like, unsure if I'd be interrupting."

Sasuke said nothing.

With a polite bow of her head, the girl excused herself and alone, walked in the rain.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

He plopped onto the grass, still damp from yesterday's storm. His shoes were caked in mud, blades of grass sticking to the soles, and he grimaced as he noticed the mud invading the skin between his toes. Sakura practiced chakra control a little ways away, and beside him, Naruto rambled on about something or another. Perhaps it was because the blond knew that, despite Sasuke's aloof and disinterested stare, he was always listening.

No clouds littered the sky, allowing the jarringly azure color to be at its boldest. The sun radiated at full brightness. It occurred to him that he hadn't thought of the weather, as simply weather−and not a factor to keep in mind for his battle plan− since his fleeting, naive childhood. A memory sparked in his mind.

"The Hyūga girl, what's her name?" He asked casually, effectively cutting off Naruto's story.

Naruto blinked. "You mean Hinata?"

"Who?"

"Hinata Hyūga," Naruto repeated. "Long hair, white eyes, cute−erm, I mean like, small."

"Oh, so it is her." Sasuke leaned his head back against the tree's wide trunk.

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nothing really." He shrugged off-handedly.

"No, tell me!" Naruto urged, assaulting Sasuke's personal space bubble with his curious face.

"Move you idiot." He roughly shoved whiskers out of his immediate view. "Ugh fine. I met her yesterday, she gave me her umbrella."

"Oh." Naruto's expression softened. "That's like her to be so nice."

"Too nice," Sasuke muttered.

"Huh what was that?"

Sasuke sighed, the dobe hung onto every word that had to do with her. "I didn't remember exactly who she was yesterday, but now I remember that her name does jog a memory."

When it appeared that Naruto was waiting patiently for elaboration, Sasuke groaned. "A long time ago, a _very_ long time ago, some of the clansmen were discussing a fallout in the Hyūga clan. The proper successor, Hinata, was too weak and subsequently an embarrassment to the clan. She was kicked out and replaced by her younger sister of five years," Sasuke stated flatly, but his dark opinions crept in. "Pathetic, actually. To be beaten by someone who was supposed to be an amateur," he continued.

"Hey! Don't talk about her like that," Naruto defended, the shift in his demeanor immediately palpable.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him and said, "We both know that the ninja world has no coddling. Someone weak like her isn't fit to lead the Hyūga clan. She has no self-confidence and almost as lacking courage."

"She's changed a lot since then!" Naruto growled, fists balled tightly at his sides. "She's strong and brave and protected me with her life!"

"Tch," Sasuke grumbled. "I'd hardly believe it. She didn't even have the confidence to approach you yesterday. How much courage does that take?"

Confusion swamped blue eyes, but before Naruto could argue further, Sakura shoved him brusquely to the side. She stopped to hover over Sasuke, her shadow casting over his stiff form.

Without warning, she punched his cheek with enough force to embed his back into the tree; wood splintered in all directions and tree bark crackled like crumpling paper. Green eyes alight, she placed her fist against her open palm and wiped the blood off her glove.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke seethed, spitting blood onto the grass.

The fury in Sakura's eyes burned like a white-hot knife. "Where do _you_," her voice dangerously low, "go off spouting bullshit like that. You know _nothing_ about Hinata." She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him forward. "I could write essays and give speeches about how amazing she is− she's a brave kunoichi who's suffered more than you think− but someone like you is so thick-skulled you won't believe anyone until you see it for yourself. I'm not going to force you to change your opinion, but I advise that you keep your mouth shut. I'm gonna tell you straight up," she raised her unoccupied hand and spread her fingers, "the number of people who look at you with not an ounce of disdain or hatred is less than the fingers on my hand. Hinata is one of them."

Sakura dropped him to the ground and he landed with an unceremonious thump. "And I won't hesitate to defend her, or any of my precious friends again. Even to you Sasuke, I won't hold back next time." She dusted her hands on her shorts and walked away, exiting the training grounds.

Sasuke watched her retreating back, trying to process what the hell just happened.

"Take it," Naruto ordered, holding out a rag. "You've got blood on your chin."

Sasuke brought his hand up to graze his chin, noting that warm blood was indeed dribbling from the sides of his mouth. When Sasuke didn't budge an inch, Naruto threw the rag over his head.

Begrudgingly, Sasuke removed the rag from his head and wiped at his mouth. He wrinkled his nose. "This...smells like your armpit sweat." He nearly gagged at the realization that it probably was.

"Deal with it," Naruto said crossly.

Sasuke's frown etched deeper. "What is it."

Naruto didn't answer immediately, surprising the Uchiha that Naruto was taking time to plan coherent sentences.

"You know, you're lucky that Sakura got to you first," he began.

"And why is that?" Sasuke huffed.

"Because you were startin' to make me really angry, and with the way you kept on going I _wouldn't_ have been able to hold back," he snarled.

"Tch."

"But you know what pisses me off even more?"

Sasuke didn't want to know. Although he doubted he had a choice in the matter.

"It's that you don't even feel bad! You can say all this shit without batting an eye!" Naruto exploded hotly.

The dark-haired boy shrugged. "That's because they are my true opinions."

"Well you know what, your true opinions suck! I'm different from Sakura because I _will_ try to change them," he declared, jabbing a thumb to his chest.

"Ugh," he pressed a hand to his forehead, "why do you care so much about this?"

Naruto folded his arms across his stomach. "Isn't it obvious? Because Hinata works hard to be acknowledged and I want her to be rightfully recognized. We both know how the ninja world likes to shun us and make us feel invisible."

Sasuke said nothing, pressing his lips into a thin line.

"You weren't there, but back when I had to face off with Pain, I got my ass handed to me. Seriously, I was pinned on the floor in minutes by these horrible chakra rods. Then _Hinata_, shy, gentle Hinata came out of nowhere, saying she was going to die protecting me!" He struggled to reign in his anger as memories flashed through his mind. "Can you believe that? Can you imagine how it feels to _see_ someone getting beaten to death for you, because you were too weak to protect them?" His breathing came out heavily, pain hardening his eyes.

Sasuke spoke, selecting his words more carefully this time. "But why? Why would she even attempt to face the Akatsuki leader. You are one hundred fold stronger than she is. If even you cannot defeat the enemy, then she was merely running a suicide mission."

"She knew. It didn't matter to her though, because she was willing to sacrifice her life for me." Naruto stopped, pausing to inhale deeply and exhale lowly. "Do you understand...how much courage it takes to be selfless?"

Several moments elapsed before Sasuke spoke. He didn't want his mind to wander back to things, or more specifically to a person, that he preferred not to think about. "Yes, I do," he finally answered.

More words danced on Naruto's tongue, but Sasuke's patience wore thin. The Uchiha stood up abruptly. "I'm going home," he announced, the texture of tree bark pressed onto the back of his poncho.

Halfway to the exit, Sasuke heard his name being shouted.

"Wait," Naruto called.

Sasuke slowed to a halt.

"Go to Sakura-chan's window and serenade her. Make sure to bring her flowers too."

"What the hell?" He whipped around, his poncho flapping behind him. "Why would I do something as ridiculous as that?"

"Because you want her to forgive you, don't you?" He said frankly; stating it as simply as if he said rain was wet.

"That doesn't mean the request is any less ridiculous." Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Naruto shrugged one shoulder. "Beats me. But that's what she told me she wanted herself."

"Utterly absurd−Wait..." Suspicion crossed his features. "Why don't you go do this yourself instead of telling me? From what I remember you hold strong feelings for her."

"Oh, you mean those days."

Not many things interested, much less surprised, Sasuke Uchiha. To say the least, Naruto took him aback with his casual handling of the subject.

"I've kinda figured it's like this." He put his hand in front of him and made a revolving motion, like screwing in a light bulb. "My crush on Sakura-chan was like... a light bulb. It was bright for a while, but then grew weaker, and eventually started to flicker. To be honest, I'm not sure if it's completely dead yet...but even so, I don't think I want to turn it back on."

He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "On the other hand, Sakura-chan's love for you is like a fire. You know: warm. A hearth to call home. You might not like this but I think she's tried to put it out. Many times, actually. Doesn't help when you stomp all over it too. But she somehow manages to find reasons to throw more wood in and keep it burning. One day though, she'll get so fed up that she'll keep it dead after you extinguished it...again."

Sasuke regarded his best friend with a look so guarded it belied the veiled emotions in his eyes. Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're...so annoying. That was awful. Don't ever write poetry. Or anything, for that matter," he said, though without genuine malice.

"Hey! Is that Sasuke-speak for 'you-got-through-my-thick-stubborn-skull.'"

"Dobe," was all he offered. "How do you even know if she still holds feelings for me? You saw it yourself, she had no trouble almost knocking my teeth out."

Naruto smirked, a haughty, grating smirk. "Well now you know what's she like when someone talks smack about _you_."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"This is your window."

"Sasuke...kun?!" She sat up, ramrod straight, and stared incredulously out her window. "Y-Yes...that is my window."

"I don't know what flowers you like. And cherry blossoms aren't blooming at this time of year."

"Sasuke-kun what are−"

"But I passed these when I was returning to the village." He presented her a neatly tied bundle of flowers: each one had five snow-white petals and a yellow center. "I don't know what they're called, but they reminded me of you. So I went back to that spot and picked them."

"O-Oh thank you," she stuttered. He saw her cheeks turn pink as she hastily tried to brush her hair down. It occurred to him that appearing at seven in the morning might not have been the most considerate decision.

"Why are you−"

"I can't sing. I mean, I don't sing," he cut off again. He knew it was rude and might have only enraged her again, but he _really_ didn't want this to become a conversation.

"Sing? What are you..." Her eyes widened, followed by her jaw plunging open. "By any chance, did Naruto tell you to do this?"

He grunted, making plans to kick a certain Uzumaki's ass into next week.

Her laugh interrupted his plotting, and he would have felt more embarrassed if it wasn't for the fact that her smile was a hell lot more preferable than her fist.

"Maybe," he conceded.

Her giggles slowed in intensity, and he figured he had to dive in.

"I'm...sorry for what I said. For saying rude things about someone precious to both you and Naruto."

Sakura stopped laughing, and he momentarily, very slightly, panicked. What could he have said wrong? "Sasuke-kun...I appreciate that, I really do."

She shyly took his hand into hers. The warmth enveloped his cold fingers. "But I want you to understand that it isn't me or Naruto that you have to apologize to. It's _Hinata_."

"I didn't say anything to her. She doesn't know," he protested.

"I know, I'm talking about in here." Sakura placed her other hand over her heart. "You already made judgments on her based on her past and what you've heard. I'm asking you to look at her objectively. Not at the past that followed her but as the person she is now. She'd do the same for you, I'm sure of it."

He didn't say anything, and it didn't look like Sakura expected him to answer anyways. He looked into her eyes− green and shining and i_mploring_−and he knew he couldn't say no. Even if he didn't voice his promise, Sakura knew it too. Sasuke wondered when this Hyūga girl had become such an integral part of his teammates.

.

.

.

"Does...does that mean I don't have to sing?"

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x-x-x-x

**Author's Note:** Hope everyone had a great Valentine's day yesterday. :) Thank you again for the great reviews! This was one of my favorite chapters to write, I never imagined I'd like Sasuke's voice so much.

I'm quite a busy person, my major is very demanding, so it may be slow...But I have this idea toying in my head of creating another project: a NaruHina AU series. (Ex. College AU, Zombie AU, Disney AU, maybe take some popular requests). It'd be a more fluffy taste compared to this slow-burning love fic. Would anyone be interested in reading a fic like so? And of course, I'm not going to forget about this one and plan to finish it!


	4. Ino's Devotion: Flowers Over Boys

x-x-x-x-x-x

Ino's Devotion: Flowers Over Boys

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

"Ino-san...is this really necessary?"

"Yes, absolutely. Now stop blinking so much," Ino commanded, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Have I ever told you how much I adore your eyes? They're so pretty, it's like I'm looking into the moon."

"R-Really?"

Ino smiled, Hinata became flustered so easily. "Yes. Which is why we must emphasize them with eyeliner. It'll make them 'pop' even more!"

Hinata looked down at her hands. "When I was little, I used to be bullied for my eyes. They called me a 'white-eyed monster.'"

"Ugh," the blonde groaned. "Kids are so stupid. What they said to you was as empty as their heads. Okay, I'm using the eyelash curler now so don't be scared."

She placed the tool over Hinata's eyelid, the metal cool against her skin, and gently curled her lashes. "Wow Hinata-chan," Ino marveled. "Your eyelashes are already so long that you don't even need fake lashes." She stepped back and gave Hinata an approving nod, pride welling up at how amazing her friend looked.

Despite Hinata's protests, the black strapless dress suited her so well− tight on top, fanning out gracefully past the waist, and ending by her knees. Its sweetheart neckline showed a teasing glimpse of cleavage yet managed to pass as modest enough for Hinata. A white ribbon wound around her torso, ending in a large bow across her waist. It wasn't like her sizeable bust had any trouble keeping things up... but if it wasn't her birthday, there was no way she could have convinced Hinata to wear anything without the security of straps. Her long, jet-black hair was swept back in a high ponytail, swishing whenever she turned her head to the side. To finish it off, a necklace with a large, single, leaf dangled around her neck; its veins crafted with simple, curved lines.

"I-Is something wrong Ino-san? Do I look weird?" Hinata squirmed under the intense scrutiny.

Ino giggled, her smile wide across her lips. "No way! I'm just so excited to see the reactions you'll get when people see you! Now let me put on a dab of mascara and you're good to go..."

A rapping knock on the bathroom door interrupted her thoughts. "Ino-pig! Are you almost done yet? You've been in there _forever._" Without waiting for a reply, the door burst open. In the split second it took for Sakura to turn to them, her expression morphed from irritation to awe. "Wow Hinata you look absolutely gorgeous. Are you sure you won't be stealing the attention away from Miss Birthday-Girl here?" She said with a wink.

Hinata flushed red and opened her mouth to protest, only to have Ino beat her to it. "If it's from Hinata-chan I don't mind. At least she put up with me stuffing her into this dress and painting her face." Ino leaned over and poked Hinata's button-nose endearingly; she squeaked in response, only giving Ino more reason to dote on her. "In fact, I'm going to make it my mission tonight to have that moron Naruto be blown away by Hinata-chan!"

Hinata bit her lip apprehensively. "No, it's your birthday, the spotlight should be on you, Ino-san," Hinata reminded. "Besides I don't think..."

Ino waved her off. "It's a good enough birthday present for me if my great fashion sense and styling helped land my friend with her man."

"Yosh! If that's what you want I'll gladly help you too," Sakura contributed, fire dancing in her eyes.

"Sakura-san you too? No, it's okay there's no need! And he's not my 'man'," Hinata mumbled, sighing as her friends thoroughly ignored her.

"Really? Let's do this Billboard brow!" Sparkles glistened in Ino's sky-blue eyes. She thrust out her palm and grinned as Sakura eagerly returned her high five.

"Oh..." Hinata groaned, sinking into her chair.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm already happy that you, Billboard, and Tenten-chan showed... unlike _certain teammates of mine_," Ino gritted out, grinding on the back of her molars. A flip switched in Ino at the thought of them. "Honestly how could they forget?! After all we've been through! I asked them last night if they wanted to hang out and they said they were busy the _whole day_. Last time I checked lazing about watching clouds and eating chips did _not_ count as busy," she fumed, still feeling sore about the whole ordeal.

She felt two gentle hands massaging her tense shoulders and she turned her head to see both Hinata and Sakura flanking her sides.

"Don't worry Ino-san, I'm sure they didn't actually forget," Hinata attempted, smiling rather...nervously.

"Huh?" Ino quirked an eyebrow, suspicion rising. "Is there something that you two aren't telling me?"

"Not at all!" Sakura answered quickly. A bit _too_ quickly.

Just before Ino was about to press on, Tenten barged into the room. Puzzlement riddled her features. "Why are you three like that−oh, are you taking pictures? And without me?" She added with a pout.

"N-No we weren't, but we should!" Sakura exclaimed brightly, relived by the change of subject. Pulling Tenten towards her, she nodded approvingly at the soft yellow dress she had reluctantly agreed to wear. Her dark hair cascaded in soft waves, almost to the middle of her back. It may have been let down from its trademark buns, but her hair still retained the springiness from always being twisted up. "I love the dress! Actually, I love the entire look. Not too girly yet still cute, it fits you perfectly," Sakura continued.

"Oh uh," Tenten put a hand to the back of her head, "thanks," she said awkwardly, also drinking in the pink-haired girl's emerald dress and elegant bun. "Wow, you look great too, very mature."

"Yes, yes we all look beautiful," Ino hurried, draping an arm over Tenten's shoulder and smashing the group closer together. "Let's take some group photos and then individual shots and then we can get this show on the road!"

"Ah, Ino-san, if we're in a hurry for time there is no need to take individual shots of me..." Hinata suggested.

"Okay so, group photos, individual shots, then _double_ shots of Hinata-chan so that we can slide copies into Naruto's pockets!"

"N-N-No definitely not!" The Hyūga shook her head furiously and looked to Sakura with pleading eyes.

Unfortunately for her, Sakura pumped her fist into the air and beamed. "Exactly, with an idiot like him you've got to be direct! Except, something so valuable shouldn't be handed over so easily to him," she said cheekily.

Tenten laughed. "Oh come on guys, if you keep on going Hinata's going to pass out from the embarrassment."

The camera clicked, and later, the photo would develop into a picture of Ino grinning ear to ear, Tenten chortling, Sakura fired up, and Hinata wishing for her and her cherry-red face to crawl in a corner.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The autumn breeze prickled her bare arms, and the moonlight barely illuminated the stone pavement that their heels clicked against. That, however, was the least of her worries.

"Sakura, I told you that I trust you enough to pick up the purse that you left last week...by yourself," Ino repeated. She dangled her house keys in front of her best friend.

"No I need you−erm, all four of us there, because...your present is in there! And we all want to see you open it," Sakura said quickly before continuing to push her like a wheelbarrow.

Blue eyes perked up. "Oh I'm excited! But you know we can go get it later, we passed the dance club already it's right over−"

"Right over there is your house!" Tenten completed for her, taking the arm Ino was pointing towards the dance club and re-directing it forward.

Ino raised her eyebrows. "Is it just me or are these two acting strange...what do you think Hinata-chan?"

Hinata kept her gaze straight ahead and cleared her throat. "N-Nope," she stammered out. "Not strange at all."

"Oh...okay?"

The remainder of the journey to her house consisted of a flurry of confused questions and even more confusing answers. After what like an eternity of struggling, they reached Ino's doorstep and she begrudgingly inserted her keys in, only to find it already unlocked.

She sighed, nudging her door open. "I can't believe the door was already unlocked. Sakura, you could have−"

"SURPRISE! Happy birthday Ino!" An entire room chorused.

Her mouth slowly fell open, unhinging rather unattractively, as her eyes simultaneously widened. Ino blinked, a myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes: confusion, shock, recognition...until finally settling on joy. She scanned the room. First, at the decorative streamers taped to the wall and colorful balloons lining the ceiling, then at every one of her friends who happened to be dressed in nice, formal attire. The entire Konoha 12 had turned up: Naruto, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Sai, even _Sasuke_ showed up. Her eyes darted from cute boy to cute boy before landing on Chouji's bright beam and Shikamaru's sheepish smile.

"You two!" She yelled, tackling them into a hug. "Oh my GOSH. I thought you two actually forgot this year! For once I'm so relieved to be wrong."

"Relax Ino," Chouji said, his gruff voice friendly. "How could we possibly forget?"

"Yeah, and the reminders and hints you were dropping all week were so obvious even Naruto would have picked up on them," Shikamaru stated with an eye roll, though his lips quirked upwards.

"Did you two plan all this?" Ino continued, but not without shooting Shikamaru a pointed glare.

"No, she was the mastermind," Shikamaru lazily glanced over at Sakura who shot back a smirk in return.

"All Shikamaru and I had to do was round up everyone and force them into formal clothing," Chouji explained.

"Easier said then done," Shikamaru grumbled. "Hinata had to come over to convince Shino to ditch the huge jacket. But she had it easy compared to Tenten who had to persuade Lee that green spandex was not the 'epitome of fashion' or whatever."

"And Shikamaru had to trap Sasuke's shadow to even get him to listen," Chouji chimed in.

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"Aww you guys," Ino cooed, pulling them together more tightly. "Thanks for doing this for me," she smiled gratefully. Chouji returned her grin, while Shikamaru averted his eyes the way he did when he was mildly embarrassed.

"Okay okay, that's enough of Team 10's little reunion time," Sakura broke in, pulling Ino away from her teammates. "We're gonna get the cake from the fridge and cut it now, then hopefully we can make our reservation at the barbeque house in time."

"Cake?! Barbeque?! Billboard, you're killing my diet here," Ino whined.

Sakura opened her mouth, most likely with a snappy retort ready, but shut it when she saw Sai lightly tapping Ino's shoulder.

"Hey...gorgeous. You don't need to diet." He looked over Ino's shoulder to see Sakura motioning to go on. Good, he hadn't messed up within the two sentences he uttered. Ino blushed, her own eyes traveling down her red halter dress and blonde hair falling in loose curls. She already knew she was gorgeous, but it sounded better from his mouth. "I read that on birthdays one is supposed to prepare a present. So then I sought out another book for more elaboration, and that book told me a hand-made present is very effective. So..." He dug into his pockets and produced a neatly tied scroll. "I drew this for you."

"Oh wow, thank you Sai," Ino said softly, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy. She took the scroll from his palm and carefully unraveled the parchment paper. It was an ink drawing of a bouquet of flowers− each plump brushstroke gracefully swept across the paper and a smaller brush etched meticulous detail into the folds of the petals. "This is absolutely beautiful!"

"There's more." Sai made a motion with his hands and the painting flopped out of the paper, coming to life in black-and-white right before her.

"Wow!" Awe swam in her eyes. "This is so cool, I love it!" Ino praised as she set it on her living room table.

"Hey!" Sakura pointed an accusatory finger at her teammate. "How come for my birthday all you gave me was a hair salon coupon?!"

"Oh? You found that displeasing? I just figured..." He didn't finish his sentence as his face met the scruffy taste of carpet.

"Think very hard about how you want to end that sentence," Sakura warned, hovering dangerously over Sai.

While Sai and Sakura bickered on her living room floor, Ino skillfully slunk out of the line of fire. On her way to the kitchen, she bumped into Naruto's rigid and immobile body.

"Naruto! Move out of the way! I've got to get to the kitchen," she chided.

"Oh sorry, Ino," he mumbled, however, made no effort to move.

Upon following his line of vision, Ino couldn't help but smirk− her irritation melted away. Slack-jawed and blushing, Naruto's attention locked onto the one and only Hinata Hyūga. Kiba and Shino stood by her side, and she smiled politely at her teammates as Kiba waved a green frog plushie and babbled on. If she noticed Naruto's stare, she adeptly hid it. It was more than likely that she was just as oblivious to Naruto's attention as he was to hers.

"Doesn't Hinata look super pretty today?" She teased, causing Naruto to nearly jump a foot in the air.

"P-Pretty? Yes...I mean no, it's not like I was acting like a− I mean...I wasn't staring at−" His eyes glued to the floor. "N-Never mind, ignore everything I said," he stuttered.

Ino threw her head back and laughed. "Whooo. Tonight is going to be interesting I can just feel all the juicy gossip already."

She sidestepped him and had just placed a foot into the kitchen when Tenten called her name.

"I already got it, just setting up the candles for you," the weapons kunoichi said. "Sakura-san was supposed to but well, she got distracted," she jabbed her thumb towards Sakura who had her lips in a hard frown and one arm planted firmly on her hips. Sai chuckled nervously a fair distance away.

The Konoha 12 sang her happy birthday, minus Sasuke who stared out a window and Shino who remained impassively still, and then Ino cut the strawberry-cream cake into slices.

Tenten and Sakura helped distribute the slices while Ino stuffed a heaping portion into her mouth. Moist, fluffy cake practically melted on her tongue. The sour tang from the strawberries melded harmoniously with the lightly-sweetened whipped icing. "Wow! This is so delicious," she popped another bite into her mouth, "Is this pudding that's layered in between the icing?"

"Yup," Sakura knowingly replied. "It was Hinata's idea, the three of us baked the cake together, but Hinata was the one who designed it and remembered all your favorites."

"Hinata-chan," Ino directed her fork towards Hinata. "I want to wifey you. I know you already have your sights set on someone else but, keep me in mind," she said with a wink. The Hyūga had already slowly been turning pink from Sakura's compliments, but now had a full-on blush.

"Sakura-san's exaggerating," she claimed timidly, "we all worked on it equally together. But I ah, I do appreciate the offer…" Her eyes twinkled playfully.

Before Ino could reply, a meaty hand shook her shoulders.

"Ino! Our reservation is in 15 minutes we've got to get a move on!" A panicked Chouji relayed.

"Chouji that's plenty of time−Hey! I was still eating that," she griped as Chouji plucked her plate out of her hand and slid it into her refrigerator.

"Don't worry it'll still be there when we come back!" He reassured, tossing her purple jacket to her and rifling through her couch to find her discarded purse.

Ugh. She shouldn't even try. When it came to food, the normally kind, docile Chouji flipped his personality over like a coin.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"You guys! We totally didn't have to rush that badly, we still have five minutes to spare!" Tenten scowled, bending over to fix the straps on her heels.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that Tenten-san," Chouji replied, albeit distantly. The sizzling of oil and aroma of fresh meat had already captured his attention.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "All the girls were in heels! Mine are three inches and Ino-san's is at least five."

"You could have accepted Lee's offer to carry you," Shikamaru reminded.

"No," Tenten deadpanned. "That is definitely not an acceptable alternative." However, she dropped the subject.

While the rest of the party shuffled into the restaurant, Ino noticed that Naruto was still a fair distance behind Hinata. Without much debate, she shoved Naruto forward.

"What the hell?!" He yelped, barely stopping his nose from colliding into Shino's back.

"Oops…my mistake," Ino said coquettishly, simpering impishly as a confused Naruto filed behind Shino. Perfect. They'd be seated near each other.

Once everyone had adjusted into his or her seats, Chouji immediately began to pour over the menu.

"Pork belly! Ribs! Bulgolgi!" He exclaimed like a child in a candy store. No matter how many times Team 10 frequented the restaurant, Chouji drooled at even the sight of delicious meats. Typically, Ino may have yelled at Chouji to exercise some restraint while Shikamaru tuned them both out. Except today, she had more important concerns...like eavesdropping on certain conversations.

Hinata was sandwiched between Kiba and Shino, with Naruto sitting across Kiba, or more importantly, diagonally from Hinata.

"So restricting...my insects are getting hot," Shino griped, pulling at his shirt collar for some desperate air circulation. Smoke from nearby tables curled above them, filling the air with the allure of savory meat as well as Shino's neck with perspiration.

"Shino-kun..." Hinata reached over to loosen his tie. "Sorry about asking you to dress up like this. On the bright side, I think you look really handsome!"

The faintest of blushes surfaced to his pale cheeks.

Kiba burst into laughter at his teammate's expense. "Oi Hinata, what about me? I clean up nice don't I?"

"Yes, you look very handsome as well Kiba-kun," Hinata agreed, giggling as she saw pride swell onto Kiba's face.

"Yahoo! You hear that Naruto? Hinata thinks I'm very handsome," he teased, causing her giggles to fade into an uncomfortable blush.

"Kiba-kun! Remember?" She elbowed him in the ribs.

Luckily for her, Naruto was completely unaware of Kiba's comment. "Your laugh...I've never heard it before," he blurted out.

"Oh r-really? I'm sure I've laughed before..." She stuttered, though quickly cursed herself for acting nervous.

"No, not in front of me," Naruto shook his head. "I...really like it. I wish you'd laugh more. I like seeing you happy," he confessed, reddening as he vaguely comprehended his words.

"Hey you two don't ignore me−mmph!" Ino swooped in and clamped her hand over Kiba's mouth, watching the scene intensely.

Hinata smiled shyly, peering up at him through her eyelashes. "I've always thought that my laugh sounded too childish, like a little girl's. It's actually kind of embarrassing."

"No not at all!" Naruto countered. "So cute...I mean." He turned away, his arm moving to rub the back of his neck. "Your voice. Referring to your voice. N-Not that you yourself aren't cute. Not that I was looking at anywhere I shouldn't be looking! Um..." Naruto trailed off uncertainly, looking like he wanted to dissolve into the floor.

From besides him, Sasuke sighed. "The dobe meant to say that you look pretty tonight. Ignore everything else," Sasuke's low, baritone voice filled the space.

"Oh my gosh," Ino half-whispered, half-squealed to Shikamaru and Chouji. "Good thing I'm taking a break from my diet today because those two are sweeter than honey, I can't even."

Chouji's eyes lit up and asked if that meant they could order more food; Shikamaru retained his bored expression but Ino swore she saw a flicker of interest.

Hinata squeaked, face flushing darker. "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun. I think you look very handsome tonight too." Her eyes timidly soaked in Naruto in his crisp black suit, aside from his un-tucked white shirt and lopsided tie, he did appear rather dashing.

"What's going on at that half of the table?!" A voice blared from the other side.

"Lee! How much did you drink already?! We just got here!" Tenten hissed, slapping her palm to her face.

"Don't worry about me Tenten, I'm just enjoying my youuuuth!" Lee elongated, head bobbing from side to side. "Is there a 'who's the most handsome' competition going on over there?!" The bushy-browed ninja abruptly stood up, clutching his head at the resulting wooziness. "In that case, let me contribute my extremely youthful fashion sense." His discarded blazer bounced against the bamboo wall.

Puffing his chest and straightening to his full height, Lee pried at his shirt, popping off some buttons along the way, and revealed the top of a familiar green jumpsuit.

"Lee!" Tenten sprung to her feet and none-too-gently pushed her teammate back down. "I can't believe you're still wearing that hideous jumpsuit underneath!" She sputtered, absolutely mortified.

"Do I win?" Lee asked in a daze. "Am I the fairest shinobi of them all?"

It started with a soft giggle, high-pitched and innocent. Hinata clapped her hand over her mouth when she realized how loud her laughter echoed in the speechless room. However, a boisterous laugh, Naruto's, soon followed. This prompted Kiba's raucous howling, and before long everyone in the room held onto their sides or rolled on the floor. Even Sasuke cracked a smirk and Shino snickered.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Ugh," Shikamaru groaned. He immediately stiffened as the cool night air disappeared and was replaced by a hot, overcrowded room, reeking of musky sweat. "Do you really need me here? Can I go home now?"

"Shikamaru!" Ino complained, clinging onto his arm and dragging him inside. "It's my birthday! No one else is leaving."

"That's because Lee is drunk, Tenten's chaperoning him, Kiba and Shino have been following Hinata like bodyguards all night, Naruto is bored at home, Sai is socially inept, and I don't even know what Sasuke's deal is. He's a mystery," Shikamaru stated matter-of-factly.

Ino rolled her eyes. "I didn't need a step-by-step breakdown! I got dressed up for a night of dancing so it'd be a waste if I didn't go."

"That's great, do as you wish. Now let me go home, troublesome woman," Shikamaru droned.

Ino decided to try a change in tactics. Sticking out her lower lip, she said, "Hey! If I was Temari would you still be putting up such a fight?"

The reaction wasn't as amusing as it was with Hinata or Naruto, but she still got a somewhat flustered, exasperated expression out of him. "She is irrelevant. And yes, I would still say no and go home."

Chouji's large hand fell on Shikamaru's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Aw come on Shika, it's not so bad, I'll keep you company." He grinned. A full belly always made Chouji more agreeable. "I don't know why Ino wants you to stay, but there's a lot of things about her we don't understand..."

Despite the implied, backhanded compliment, Ino smiled in relief.

Shikamaru breathed in deeply, wrinkling his nose at the pungent stench of the club, and half-coughed, half-exhaled. "Fine...I'll stay...but only for a little while."

"Aw thanks you two are the best!" Ino cheered, ruffling both of their hairs before bounding onto the dance floor.

"Ergh." Shikamaru placed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "What was the point of us staying if she was going to leave us anyways?"

"Don't be so down, Shika. At least there are still clouds for you to watch," Chouji said brightly, pointing towards the glass windows lining the ceiling.

Sakura barely had time to register the face as a blur of red fabric and blonde hair crashed into her. "Ino-pig? What gives!" She demanded, cocking her hip and folding her arms.

"Oops. Got a bit overexcited there," Ino said apologetically. "Anyways, what's the news on our cute little bunny and her stupid idiot?"

"Oh," Sakura instantly switched gears, Ino's reckless greeting gone from her mind. "So far so good. He's been unconsciously sticking near her whether he realizes it or not. The problem seems to be Kiba and Shino though, it's like those two are dogs leashed to her."

"Leave it to me!" Ino stated confidently. "I'll distract them while you try to bring Naruto to Hinata."

"It's a plan," they recited simultaneously, both shaking their heads in a firm nod.

Squinting her eyes in the dark club, Ino twisted around until she spotted the familiar chakra patterns of her two teammates. She raced over to them, worming her way through the bustling crowd.

"Hey guys," she panted.

"Ino...? Back already?" Chouji queried with a tilt of his head.

"I just need to borrow you two for a moment!" She said with a suspiciously saccharine grin plastered on her face.

Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances as Ino pulled both of them forward. "Oh...kay? Where are we going?" Shikamaru asked, trying to wriggle out of her vice-like grip. He sighed. So much for peaceful cloud gazing...albeit in a smelly, dusty club. Before he could wrack his head for possible answers and escape routes, he found himself shoved right under Kiba's nose.

"Hey Kiba, Shikamaru said that he's really interested in how the Inuzuka's train their dogs. Every step of it. Starting from when they're born."

"What? Really? _Shikamaru_ is?" Kiba questioned in obvious disbelief.

"Yeah, Shikamaru is?" Shikamaru pointed to himself and narrowed his eyes at Ino.

"Yup!" She said brightly. Leaning over towards his ear she all but hissed, "Just go with it! Please! I'll use the Mind-Transfer Jutsu and do your chores for you for the next week!"

She brought out Chouji next, and swung him with so much force that he almost crashed into Shino. "And Shino! Chouji said he'd love to hear about every one of your bug species. What they eat, how they fight...Every. Little. Detail."

"It is quite rare for someone to display interest in me−I mean, my bugs. But if you insist..." Shino intoned; he seemed quite pleased to receive attention.

"I do...?" Chouji furrowed his brow, but was unable to say more before Ino yanked him down.

"Go with it!" She urged. "I'll buy you a week's supply of all-you-can-eat barbeque chips!"

Without waiting for her teammate's objections−or in other words, sneaking out of the fray− Ino bolted out of there and headed for Sakura.

Sakura had been successful on her end too; she had managed to gather Hinata and Naruto together and the trio engaged in conversation. When she saw Ino approach, Sakura readily waved her over.

"Hey! What'd I miss guys?" Ino chirped, not bothering to contain her enthusiasm. Her plan was unfolding without a single hitch! At this rate, she really could follow through on her self-imposed mission to help Hinata.

"Hi Ino-san, are you enjoying your birthday?" Hinata asked cordially.

"Yes, it's been very fun! How about you, are you having fun?"

"Yes, I−"

"How about dancing? Any cute boys ask you to dance yet?" Ino's eyes darted furtively to Naruto.

"Well, um..."

"Calm down Ino-pig!" Sakura's fist bonked Ino's head. "We were just talking about how Naruto should ask Hinata to dance with him." She gave the blond boy a discreet kick in the shins and nudged him forward. "Isn't that right Naruto?" Her lips curled up sweetly, but Naruto felt a shiver run up and down his spine at the threatening undertone.

"U-Um right, yeah, we were talking about it..." He stumbled out, sweat pooling at the nape of his neck.

"Oh what a great idea!" Ino prattled on. "So why don't you ask her...now?" She pulled Hinata closer and fixed her ponytail to fall attractively over one shoulder.

"I-Ino-san, Sakura-san, let's not give Naruto-kun any pressure, neh?" Hinata chuckled nervously, her old habit of twiddling her fingers re-surfacing.

"Hinata, do..." His mouth ran dry. Embarrassment flushed his face, his eyes suddenly finding themselves wandering over his shoes, the neon lights, the throng of people encasing them...everywhere. Except on Hinata.

"Go on..." Sakura encouraged, adopting a more motherly tone.

He hesitated again, turning his gaze on Sakura. With a sheepish smile, Naruto said, "Actually um...Sakura-chan, why don't you join us too?"

Naruto might as well had detonated a bomb. The color drained from Hinata's face, and raw hurt flashed through her eyes before she could think to suppress it.

"No, Naruto-kun it's okay," Hinata tried to say evenly. Tried. "You don't have to. I…I know you don't want to. You two should…stay together. Do whatever it takes to be happy, please." As her eyes darted between Naruto and Sakura, her composure crumbled like leaves in a fire. "I apologize but…excuse me." Before anyone could blink, much less process her words, Hinata slipped away, her petite stature nimbly weaving through the crowd.

"No Hinata! Wait!" Sakura called desperately. Sakura flared to life, but refrained from immediately grilling Naruto with her words and fists as her eyes followed Hinata. She had only taken a few steps in her direction when an idea struck her; she swiveled on her heel and sprinted for the far corner of the club.

Ino pressed her palms into her eyes and groaned. While her heart sank to her stomach, she prayed to all the gods that her friend didn't run off to hide in a corner. Just the thought of Hinata upset made her blood boil.

"Ugh!" She hit Naruto's chin with a clean uppercut and forced him several feet into the air. "Why why _why_ did you have to say that?!"

"Ow! What the hell?" He clutched at his jaw, a bruise already purpling. "Wait− what just happened? Did I do something wrong? Why did Hinata leave?"

"Go after her to _fix the mess you made,_"Ino demanded, ignoring his questions.

Misery mixed with the confusion already in his eyes. He didn't straighten himself up. "Did I upset her? I don't know what's going on…but I really don't want her to be sad."

Ino rolled her eyes. "How are you so…so slow?! Just go find her and apologize and say you really do want to be with her."

"Nope, that won't work anymore," Sakura commented dryly, with a reluctant Sasuke in tow. "She already believes his first answer is the truth."

"What? I gave an answer? I thought I just suggested that the three of us dance together." He ran a hand through his hair and pulled at blond strands. "And, what is Sasuke doing here?! I thought he went home ages ago."

Sasuke answered with a noncommittal grunt.

"Anyways." Sakura's fist landed squarely on Naruto's jaw in a deadly right hook. Blood seeped out of his nose and it wouldn't be a surprise if she dislodged a tooth. "Explain. Right now. Why you rejected her−"

"I didn't reject her!" He protested from his seat on the ground. He used his arm to clumsily wipe the blood dribbling onto his upper lip, unconcerned with getting his sleeve dirty.

"−Why you indirectly rejected her," she corrected, "make it quick 'cause Sasuke-kun's got places to be."

"I-It's just," One hand automatically moved to be hidden behind his neck. "Okay fine, I was going to ask just her, honest! ...But then I realized that I don't know anything about dancing. Hinata's so elegant and graceful while I'd be tripping over my own feet."

Ino groaned. "Naruto we're not ballroom dancing here!"

"O-Or even making sure I'm saying the right things. I called her a dark, plain weirdo to her face before! And there's another time I even said she reminded me of Lee!" He paused before adding, "Yeah yeah I'm the Village Hero now, but I'm really just a guy who can't talk to girls, has uncontrollable gas, and whose wallet has more air than dollars."

Sakura hauled him up by his bicep and shook him violently. "What the hell Naruto! This is no time to be wallowing in insecurity!" She barked into his ear. "Hinata doesn't care about any of that and you really don't understand her if you think she does! She's always seen you for who you are and not what others labeled you as!"

"Interesting," Sasuke quipped from the side, speaking his first word since the barbeque house. "I'll do it."

"Huh? What are you going to do Sasuke-kun?" Ino inquired.

"Sakura dragged me over here and requested that I ask the Hyūga girl to dance." His onyx eye flitted to Sakura's surprised green ones. "Are you sure I'm the right person?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Your bluntness and honesty will give her...another perspective. Come on, let's go Sasuke-kun."

"W-Wait what?!" Naruto balked, eyes wide as saucer plates. "Sasuke's going to what?! That's totally unfair!"

"No, it's completely fair! You already messed up," Sakura retorted flippantly before lugging Sasuke away with her.

Ino felt like she was watching a drama as emotion darkened Naruto's crystal-blue eyes. "I must have really messed up if _Sasuke's_ the solution. How is that bastard even going to hold her with one arm?" He looked down at his own, bandaged prosthetic. Saliva thickened his throat as pain flooded his expression; he punched the floor in frustration. The resulting tremor rumbled up Ino's shoes and vibrated up her feet.

"Hey! You're going to have to pay for the damages you know!" Ino scolded.

"Whatever..." he sighed, "I'm sorry for being like this on your birthday. There's just so much...crap in my head right now," he finished lamely.

"That's fine, don't even worry about me." Ino waved him off, and then folded her arms below her chest. "But Naruto, there's something I need to know."

"What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "What are your intentions towards Hinata-chan?"

"My intentions? …Nothing? I don't have any−OW." Naruto nursed his arm and whined, "What's going on? Why are you and Sakura-chan hitting me so much today? Girls are so scary…"

" 'Cause you gave the wrong answer!" Ino snapped.

His face scrunched in confusion. "Wrong answer? What's the right answer then?"

Dropping her shoulders lower, Ino sighed. "Do you really need it drawn out for you? In a flip chart? With pictures and captions?"

"_Yes_. I actually really would," Naruto admitted, nearly pleadingly.

"I don't understand," Ino ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I thought you were at least aware of her feelings after oh I don't know_, her confession_. How can you be so dense?"

Naruto squirmed uneasily, remaining silent for a few moments. "Oh um. I guess…she told me that she…she loved me," he flushed saying it out loud, shifting his gaze to his lap. "But to be honest I don't understand it. Nothing in our interactions have really changed, she doesn't act the way I thought people in love do, at least from what I've seen in movies and what the pervy sage forced me to read. Actually, I feel like she's been avoiding me lately. I don't understand," he repeated again. "Does she really love me? What does that even mean? How is it even possible for someone to love me?"

His brow creased, lips twisting into a frown. "But I know Hinata's important to me. Really important. I hope she doesn't think I rejected her. I never want to see her sad, or even worse make her sad…I just want to see her laugh and smile all day, like how she was earlier."

Ino pursed her lips, reprimanding eyes softening. She suddenly remembered that despite his idiocy and romantic competency of a 5-year old, Naruto had a pure heart. "It's not my place to answer those questions, you'll have to ask her yourself," Ino finally decided on. "But I do know that you can't expect Hinata to wait for you forever. The next time someone really comes to sweep her off her feet, it's going to hit you, and it's going to hit you hard."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"It means that if that was what it was like when Sasuke-kun borrowed her, I can't imagine what it'll be like when someone else truly tries." With a wink, Ino turned around, her blonde hair swishing behind her. "Either way, see ya Naruto. I've been standing idly for too long now when I'm supposed to be dancing! Maybe I can find Sai-kun somewhere..."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The cold, hard plane of rock against her bare feet had never felt so good. Sure, she's been in plenty of saunas and day spas, but they all paled in comparison to the moment she un-strapped her shoes. Her 5-inch stilettos had taken a toll on her feet, and while the red heels were cute and totally worth it, her heels begged to differ. She pressed her back against the wall, the shoes she had tangled in her hands clicking against it as well. Her neck tilted up towards the sky, stars shining like diamonds against black felt, and wondered why Shikamaru preferred cloud-watching to star-gazing.

After consulting a little pocket guide, Sai offered multiple times to walk her home or at least keep her company, but she shook her head, declining politely. She reassured him that she was just waiting on Shikamaru and Chouji, both of whom were nursing Kiba to a decent degree of sober. If the Inuzuka stumbled home drunk, his drill-sergeant mom would force him to sleep outside for a week, literally. From the short description Shikamaru had provided, the impromptu reunion of the "dead-last brigade," Shino becoming a new addition, had re-kindled their friendship as they fondly reminisced their childhood over rounds of drinks.

And Chouji, surprisingly, was genuinely interested in Shino's bugs.

"Ino-san?"

The soft question broke her out of her reverie. Hinata was standing primly in front of her, hands clasped in front of her body.

"Oh! Hinata-chan!" She ran up to her friend and embraced her in a crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, how did it go? How was Sasuke-kun?"

"He was...um...okay." She bit her lip. "He wasn't as rude as he could have been sums it up well."

Ino giggled, her laughter warm in the brisk autumn night. "Sounds about right. What are you doing out so late? You didn't go home with Sakura?"

"I told her to go ahead, I needed to find you first," Hinata replied. "I wanted to...thank you, for dedicating so much of your night to try to improve my um...romantic situation."

Ino sucked in air through her teeth. "No Hinata-chan, if anything I should be apologizing," she hung her head low, "I'm sorry for trying to intervene. I can't help but get excited about all this blossoming love."

Hinata took a step forward and placed a gentle hand on Ino's arm. "You did it because you genuinely wanted me to be happy." Her white eyes crinkled happily. "Others may think of you as someone loud and...violent, but they forget that you're also an incredibly kind person."

She slipped a neatly wrapped box, tied with white ribbon into Ino's hand. "Happy birthday Ino-san! It isn't much...but I hope you like it."

"Aww Hinata-chan you didn't have to," she said automatically. Touched, and still at a loss for what to say to Hinata's honest praise, Ino released the ribbon and carefully unwrapped the lavender paper. A gasp escaped out of her lips, and she delicately lifted the gift out of its silk cushion. The base glowed gold in the moonlight, and if she turned it at a certain angle the sparkles on the purple flower glittered like stars in the night. "Wow Hinata-chan, it's so beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it." A smile spread across Hinata's lips. "I know you've always liked the meaning behind flowers, so I chose a broach of an iris. I heard that it means a 'cherished friendship.' I know that we aren't as close as you and Sakura-san are, but I still wanted to convey that I'm happy I've become someone you care about. At least...I think so," she ended timidly, peering up at Ino shyly.

Tears welled in the corner of her eyes and her heart felt like it had been tickled until it tingled.

"Ino-san? What's wrong?" Concern laced Hinata's voice.

"Nothing," Ino tackled her friend into a hug. "I'm overwhelmed by your cuteness and sincerity and wow I must have been stuck with dumb boys for so long to feel so emotional and it's not even that time of the month."

She leaned back and beamed, an idea creeping into her mind. Reaching into her clutch bag, she pulled out the individual photos they'd taken earlier. "Screw Naruto and his dumb ass! I'm keeping these photos all to myself! Gonna hang them in my bedroom, in my living room, in the Yamanaka flower shop, everywhere!"

Blood rushed to Hinata's face at the thought of everyone stopping to look at photos of her in this strapless, moderately low-cut dress. "T-That's going overboard Ino-san!"

"No such thing!"

At the beginning of the night, Ino had set a mission for Naruto to be blown away by Hinata. She may not have succeeded, but she wasn't worried. Hinata had already bloomed into a beautiful person, and was perfectly capable of astounding anyone herself.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

**Author's Note: **These are getting long! I'm trying to tread the line of keeping Naruto in-character to how he will behave in The Last, yet at least be aware of the existence of Hinata's feelings. With the way his childhood was, I believe that Naruto has cliché ideologies of love which are reflected in how he crushed on Sakura, (Posing as Sasuke for that fabled true love's kiss, tying a symbolic red rope around him and Sakura in one of the fillers, etc) and doesn't understand Hinata's form of affection. One of my reviewers, **Flameraven, **noted that Hinata calls Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun" rather than "Sasuke-san." That is because on the SasuHina page, there's this tiny sliver of text that mentions Hinata referring to Sasuke with a -kun suffix and I just agreed with it. And again, thank you to all the reviewers! :)

Getting into my personal life, I have a lot of exams and job applications coming up, but hopefully I can still update timely. I'm also super excited to see The Last in theaters tomorrow! The icing on the cake is that my jock of a boyfriend expressed interest in watching it with me. He's one of those people who watch Naruto simply for the fight scenes and believes that NaruHina/SasuSaku are obvious but remain indifferent to romantic shipping, so he'll be confused when he sees all the love.


	5. Sasuke's Candor, Sai's Observations

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sasuke's Candor; Sai's Field Observations: Unlikely Support

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

One look into her eyes and it was obvious he wasn't the person she expected. Or wanted. She dropped her gaze.

At least her eyes stayed dry. He knew how to handle tears as well as he knew how to serenade girls at their windows.

They had found her in the corner, looking very much like she wanted to be alone or slink away and go home. At least they were on the same page about_ that_ feeling.

"Hey...Hinata," Sakura said, pressing her hand to Hinata's shoulder and squeezing gently.

"Hi Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun," she addressed, not looking up at either of them.

"Sasuke-kun wanted you to dance with him," Sakura skipped the pleasantries, cutting to the point. He felt her push the small of his back.

Hinata knitted her eyebrows together, keeping her face tilted down. "While I appreciate the thought, you really don't have to."

"No, he insists," Sakura persisted.

Hinata sighed. "Thank you, Sakura-san," she said tightly out of formality, "but I haven't sunken so low that I need Sasuke-kun to engage in an activity he dislikes doing. I'm not sad or depressed. I'm fine, I promise."

"Hinata..."

"You're right."

White met black in surprise.

"I don't dance."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura instantly reprimanded.

"But in spite of that...I do insist," he spoke evenly. Dark eyes bored into Hinata's own with a quiet intensity. A mixture of shock and suspicion overtook her expression; nonetheless, she searched for his sincerity.

"You are not...lying," she slowly decided, arching a thin eyebrow.

He didn't blink. "I have no reason to."

Hinata furrowed her brow, but didn't protest as Sakura took a hold of her arm and pulled her towards Sasuke.

"Okay, now that that's settled, you two have fun!" Sakura chirped brightly, winking at Hinata.

"Wait Sakura-san, he should be your−"

Her words fell away as Sakura tucked a stray bang behind Hinata's ear. With a reassuring smile, the pink-haired girl shook her head and then disappeared into the crowd. Sasuke was fully aware that he was probably a..."token" of some sort. Not that it mattered. Even if he understood, he found he didn't care. He still had an unspoken promise to fulfill.

"Let's go," Sasuke said simply and lead her to the crowd of people moving to music. As his gaze roved over the young adolescents, bodies pressed to each other like canned sardines and some even making out on the spot, he remembered why he wanted to go home.

Hinata sensed his discomfort and tugged him back. "Um..." She gave him a smile that he supposed was intended to be warm. "We don't have to go in too far, Sasuke-kun."

"Okay," he agreed.

They stayed on the far fringes of the pack of people, but even so, the thick humidity of sweltering sweat traveled to them. A few upbeat songs played by where the heavy bass reverberated in their hearts, electric tunes accompanying the rhythmic pounding. Hinata swayed to the beat while Sasuke stood still as a tree. True to his word, Sasuke didn't dance. The two barely made eye contact, and even someone as socially challenged as him noticed the awkwardness. When a slow song came on for a change of pace, the pair exchanged a look. A silent understanding passed through them.

"Sasuke-kun, is there something else that you would like to do?" She asked, already knowing his answer.

"Yes," he replied plainly. The list of things he hated already stretched on for miles, he added dancing as another drop in the ocean.

"Okay let's just...go outside and talk? It's getting a little stuffy in here," Hinata suggested.

"That's fine."

As they crammed pass the mess of sweaty bodies to reach the exit, Sasuke felt a pair of heated eyes glaring into the back of his head. He didn't need to turn around to identify whom they belonged to.

He followed Hinata out the door, the night air a welcoming change from the horrible confines of that building, and didn't say a word as they walked down the block. Matte stars littered the sky, like flecks of white paint on a black canvas. But the crescent moon nestled between them shone bright enough to illuminate the sky. After just minutes of walking, they stumbled upon a stone bench.

"How about here?"

He nodded and sat down on the cold seat. She copied his actions, careful to keep a space between them.

Before they lulled into another silence, Sasuke opened his mouth, "Are you afraid of me?"

To say the least, Hinata didn't expect that. Though to her credit, she composed herself quickly. "Do I...have reason to be?"

"No but," he paused, "I think 99% of the village is."

"Hm," she hummed. "No, I am not," she lingered, as if there were more words waiting behind her lips.

He waited.

"I don't know you very well, Sasuke-kun. I don't know the full extent of your past or the crimes you may have committed. But somehow, I don't feel…like there's anything for me to be afraid of," she disclosed.

Sasuke considered her answer, remaining silent.

"Sasuke-kun, may I ask you a question?"

He grunted his affirmation.

"Why did you want to want to ask me to dance? Well, okay, more like why did you offer to spend time with me?" She fiddled with the hem of her dress, evading his eyes.

The answer came easier than expected, "Because you are important to people precious to me." He stilled, wondering since when could he say those feelings so casually? He thought that he had buried his emotions under far more layers.

She stopped fidgeting, turning to face him. "Do you mean Sakura-san?"

"And the other one," he reluctantly supplied.

"M-Maybe."

His curiosity piqued. "Why do you not accept that you affect him as much as he affects you?"

She jolted, a light blush adorning her cheeks. "T-That's too much credit. Naruto-kun's done so much for me...he changed me from someone who always ran away to someone who never wanted to give up. In contrast, I've done almost nothing for him..."

Sasuke deliberated her answer, noticing a glaring inconsistency. "Was he really the one to do that?"

Hinata frowned. "What do you mean?"

"From what I understand, he was an oblivious idiot to your affections until almost two years ago. There is no way he could have consciously changed you," Sasuke continued. His face remained impassive, but conviction fortified his words.

"That's true, but−"

"_You_ changed yourself. You did all the work. Naruto only inspired you."

"I..." She trailed off, soaking in his words.

"Tell me," he shifted his attention to her face, "what are all the things you managed to accomplish? Leave Naruto's name out of all of them."

Hinata hesitated, but quietly said the first thing that came to mind, "I...managed to get promoted to Chuunin level."

"Earlier. And be more specific," Sasuke instructed.

Hinata exhaled loudly, grumbling something under her breath before continuing.

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing."

"Okay. Go on then."

"I...stood up to my cousin, Neji-nii-san, during the first Chuunin exams. I believe that you were out of the room at the time. Our difference in strength was incredibly obvious. He landed a blow on my heart and I even went into cardiac arrest later. Even so, I continued until I collapsed."

"I see."

"When I wanted to become stronger, I developed my own jutsu, Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. It works by using flexibility and chakra control to deflect enemies from all sides. I was able to protect my teammates and Nar− um, my comrades with it."

"I see," he repeated.

"Am I boring you, Sasuke-kun?"

"No, this is how I am. Continue."

"Oh...okay. I stood up to Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki. I should have died," she stated simply, biting her lip. "I grazed him with my Twin Lion Fists long enough to stun him. I don't...exactly know what happened after, but I'm lucky to be alive."

"I see." Naruto's livid reaction at even the mention of the incident surfaced to his mind.

"And...I encouraged Naruto to continue believing in his ideals, his ninja way, when Neji-nii-san...um...made the ultimate sacrifice. I just couldn't allow Naruto-kun to give up! We had all come so far."

"I see," Sasuke dwelled on her most recent reply, "you mentioned his name."

"Ugh," she groaned, "so you were listening."

After brief contemplation, he spoke, "You should train with Team 7 sometime."

Pale eyes widened. "Really? But all of you are so strong..."

He gave her a pointed look.

"... And I am too. O-Okay, I will."

"Finally," Sasuke huffed. "For once, take some credit for yourself. You're unnecessarily humble, it's tiring to listen to."

Hinata's mouth dropped open, unsure whether to feel affronted or complimented. "I…I apologize if my habits annoy−"

"Now it's my turn to ask an invasive question," Sasuke interrupted, uninterested in her unnecessarily humble apology.

"My question was not−"

"Why do you still have low self-confidence? You've accomplished all these things. And you're a Hyūga, widely accepted as one of the strongest clans in Konoha."

"I do not have low self-confidence anymore," Hinata protested.

"You're lying," Sasuke rejected. "Maybe you've markedly improved, but you don't completely like yourself. It doesn't make sense."

She cringed, curling into herself to make her smaller. "That's not true," she squeaked, "I'm completely happy with how I am now, confident even."

Sasuke openly stared at her, narrowing his eyes. "Lying," he repeated, "the other people you fed that line to didn't believe you either."

Like pushing a button, Hinata's pale visage inflamed into a bright scarlet. She sighed, bringing her feet onto the bench and hugging her knees. "I-It's embarrassing. Please don't make me say it..." She shyly peered at him from the corner of her eye. "You should already know..."

His brow crinkled, but relaxed when the epiphany struck. Sasuke scoffed. "Oh," he deadpanned. "That's incredibly stupid."

"I know I know." Hinata buried her burning face in her hands. "I'm trying to stop, really. I was doing well too. B-But then things like tonight happen, where I let myself think that I wouldn't be a consolation prize, that there's a possibility he truly likes me too...for _me_. That one day, he could pick me as someone worth having a tiny bit of priority for in his heart. For once in my life, I want to feel like a _first_ choice. Of course, it's only too soon until I'm reminded that I'm deluding myself in a fantasy," she finished dejectedly, sinking her chin into her propped knees. "Why am I even telling you this? This is so embarrassing..."

Sasuke blinked, he had always been a first, a number one. Whether it was his grades at the Ninja Academy, potential within Team 7, attention from girls, or even being plucked up by Orochimaru, the list could go on and on. But, her words throttled him back to innocent days: naively watching a certain someone's back and waiting for the promises embedded in forehead pokes. He startled himself that he could understand her desires for recognition.

"Sasuke-kun?" Her gentle voice broke him out of his reverie. "I'm sorry, was I being too much?"

"No," he answered, managing to maintain his stoic demeanor and pocketing the thoughts that had slipped out of locked drawers. He returned to the situation at hand. "How do you know that you are not already his first choice," he phrased as a statement.

"Hm. It is obvious that I am not. I am shy, quiet, and formal, completely opposite of his−" Hinata blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Well, let's just say the moon will fall from the sky before that day comes," she sulked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Hinata inhaled deeply and rubbed her temples. "Sorry about that, I was acting like a child. It's okay, I'm happy to be even a friend. Incredibly fortunate and blessed to be able to, actually."

"About Naruto's feelings…you are worrying about nothing," he assured her calmly.

"I know...Naruto-kun probably has so many important things to worry about while I'm getting worked up over my silly feelings," she misinterpreted.

"That's not what I meant," he corrected flatly.

She continued on, ignoring him. "Sasuke-kun...I want to thank you for your unlikely support, shall I call it that? Even though your methods are unconventional, I do feel a bit better now. I'm going to work harder to love…_myself_. One day, Naruto-kun will find a lover, and my heart will have to accept Naruto-kun as nothing more than a friend. I really wish for him to be happy, I do. But I'm going to have to make sure I can mend my own broken heart too."

Uh oh. Shit. With the direction Naruto's feelings were slowly falling, he wasn't going to agree with some of these developments. Sasuke vaguely realized that he was probably the worst wingman in existence.

"You...should hold onto your feelings," he tried, beginning to grow uncomfortable with the turn in conversation.

"Everyone keeps telling me that for some reason. I-I'm not saying that I don't love him anymore, my feelings can't fade like an on and off switch. But well, you made me realize something. How can I expect him to love me if I can't truly love myself?" Her lips slowly spread wider, its curve molding into a smile.

It was small, nothing compared to Naruto's huge grins or Sakura's warm beams, but her little genuine smile radiated brighter than anything in the night sky.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The pad of his index finger scaled the yellowed pages until it stopped at a particular word.

"Jealousy: resentment against a rival, or against a person enjoying success or advantage," he read inside his head.

Sai looked from the book to Naruto's tense form, and decided that the definition was sorely insufficient. He picked an ink pen from his pocket and pulled open the cap with his mouth. Naruto currently rocked back and forth on his heels, his hands jammed in his pockets and a hard line where an exuberant smile usually existed. A few seconds ago he had squatted down and yanked at grass. Before then, he had crossed his arms and glowered at an innocent tree.

Sai wrote neatly in the margins of the paper: _Constant fidgety movement. Short-temper. "Pissed-off" eyes. _

"Are you jealous?" He hoped he categorized the emotion correctly this time. Last time he deduced something it wasn't exactly well received. Granted, the fact that he announced to half the village that Naruto was "constipated" may not have helped.

Naruto glared at him and opened his mouth to speak.

"No! I'm happy that they were able to hit it off pretty well."

Sai widened his eyes and stared at Sakura curiously. Even his underdeveloped instincts told him not to reveal that he wasn't addressing her.

"Sakura-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, shock coloring his question.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sakura replied quickly, jumbling her words together at the end. "Why do you ask if I am, Sai?" She progressed on before they could answer her first question.

Sai waved his book in the air. "Just taking some notes. Making some field observations," he said cheerily. He made another addition to his notes, _Excessive denial_, he penned with the felt tip.

"Ugh." Naruto rolled his eyes, some of the clear blueness had returned. "Why did Shikamaru have to give you a dictionary?"

Sai shrugged. "Probably for me to leave him alone and stop asking questions," he answered truthfully.

From above them, the commotion grew louder. Sai tilted his head up.

"Too slow. Predictable. Too many openings." The dark-haired boy punctuated her weakness with a swift kick to her stomach. Air rushed out of her lungs as she slammed into the tree trunk. "Come on, stand up," he commanded.

"Oi!" Naruto snarled; his voice carried loudly even from the ground below. "Don't be so harsh on her!"

"Tch," Sasuke frowned from his perch on a thick tree branch. "I'm not. I've got one arm and I'm not using the Rinnegan. Weren't you the one who insisted she was strong?"

"Yeah but−"

"Sasuke-kun, I am fine," Hinata stood up, rolling back her shoulders and cracking her neck. "It's okay, don't coddle me. If I want to become stronger I must endure."

Sasuke watched her intently, but chose not to comment on the matter. Instead, he said, "Your clan's technique emphasizes speed. Once your opponent is caught in the combination it's difficult for them to defend themselves. All that is useless however, if you can't start it," he analyzed, "we're sparring in the trees because you need to improve on facing situations where your stance is imbalanced."

Hinata nodded. "As expected of Sasuke-kun, you can see through your opponents easily. However," she narrowed her eyes, "you shouldn't underestimate me."

Sai turned from the training session to his two teammates. "Hmm...looks like it is getting rather lively up there, isn't it? I did not take Sasuke-kun to be such a talkative one," Sai observed, oblivious to the fact that a grey storm cloud rained over his two teammates.

"She barely talked to me. She just said hi to everyone and then walked over to the teme. Maybe she hates me now," Naruto groaned, "I always find a way to fuck up, so I'd hate me too."

"Don't be so dramatic, blockhead," Sakura grumbled from beside him.

"Hinata-san doesn't hate you. In her eyes, you've done nothing wrong. Ino-san told me that Hinata-san was happy at the end of her birthday party," Sai recalled.

Naruto perked up. "Really?"

"Yes," Sai said with a smile. "It seems like the unlikely friendship between her and Sasuke-kun cheered her up."

...And then his face fell.

Raising an eyebrow, Sai inclined his head towards Naruto. "What is the matter? Isn't it best when your friends are in pleasant moods?"

The blond sighed. "It's not like I don't want her to be happy..." Light pink dusted his cheeks. "I guess I'm just...jealous that I wasn't the one that cheered her up. I feel like all I ever do is make her feel worse."

Sakura's fists bopped him on the head. "Then quit whining and doing things that make her want to give up on you! You're not in the dark about her feelings anymore!"

"Give...up on me?" He repeated cautiously, as if kneading the words like dough in his hands. A frown settled on his face.

"Why would you make her feel worse? I thought that when one is in the presence of their object of affection, they smile," Sai relayed his past research.

Naruto mulled over the past few days, then thought further to the past few weeks. "I thought that was true, but one time me and Sakura-chan saw her and she had the _saddest_ smile I've ever seen. Why would she like someone who makes her sad?" He asked honestly.

"Stupid. He's so stupid," Sakura muttered to herself, regarding Naruto with hooded eyes.

Sai rummaged through his pouch to extract his dictionary again, flipping to a dog-eared page.

"Love: a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person," Sai read in his head. No matter how many times he read over the definition, he found it simply didn't captivate the meaning. Many notes already lined the margins: _Strange feeling in chest cavity, Smile often within presence, Painful. _He added _Confusing _in clean strokes.

"Hm." Sai placed two fingers under his chin. "Then let's look at it from the other way around. Do you smile in her presence? Does she make you happy?"

Naruto stilled, the muscles in his jaw slackening, and he parted his mouth slightly as he took time to think about what had simply…never occurred to him.

"Yes," he said abruptly, eyes widening, "I've never _not_ felt happy around her." He jerked his head up to meet Sai's dark eyes, his own blues a mixture of shock and befuddlement.

A familiar, shrill chirping suddenly crackled through the treetops, capturing all three of their attentions.

"He's using his Chidori on her?!" Naruto exclaimed, instantly on edge.

Above them, Sasuke made a beeline for Hinata, blue lightning sparking in his hand. She arranged herself in a defensive stance. Seconds before Sasuke's Chidori would make fatal contact, she swiftly dodged out of harms way and activated the Twin Lion Fists. She swung at his Chidori, and in response, he quickly retracted his arm, but not without losing some of his heavily concentrated chakra to her draining jutsu. Everything blurred into a mess of blue light and blue chakra, but Sasuke's keen eyes caught an opening. He retaliated with a powerful kick, effectively knocking Hinata off balance.

"You fell for it again," he reproached, watching as her petite body sailed towards the ground.

"Hinata!" Immediately scrambling to his feet, Naruto leapt up to grab her, cradling her into his chest as they landed safely.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata's eyes widened, her Byakugan veins slipping away. A smile appeared on her lips. Not sad, not conflicted, not in pain. Just an honest-to-God Hinata smile. His heavy emotions lifted at the sight of it. "Y-You shouldn't have...I'm going to get sweat and blood on your clothing."

Naruto laughed, shaking away her reservations. "If it's from you, I don't mind at all."

Hinata's mouth opened slightly, blushing as she hid her face away.

From above, Sasuke cursed under his breath. The Uchiha stumbled, abruptly dropping to one knee.

"I did not simply fall for it again," Hinata called. "I had to distract you with an opening so I could get _my_ opening."

Sasuke frowned as he searched his memory.

"When your focus was on the Twin Lions Fists chakra-draining capabilities, I deactivated one and used basic Gentle Fist technique to strike a few critical chakra points on your leg. Now you're going to have trouble balancing your stance too," Hinata explained, a hint of smugness working its way into her tone.

"Hn. Fine," Sasuke conceded. "I'll activate my eyes..." Blood red replaced the cold onyx of his right eye.

"Wow, Hinata you're so amazing!" Naruto complimented earnestly. "Every time I see you fight you just get stronger and stronger!"

"Oh...um, thank you Naruto-kun," she said, twirling the ends of her hair.

Sasuke's gruff voice interrupted the two. "Dobe. Stop interfering before I kick your ass."

"What?!" Naruto jumped to his feet and extended an arm, curling his fingers in a challenge. Eyes confident, he declared, "Please. I can whoop your ass any day."

Sasuke scoffed, shooting him an irate glare. "Fine. Remember that you're the one asking for it." His gaze shifted to Sakura and Sai resting under the long fronds of a tree. "I'm not finished sparring with Hinata though, so let's make it a team competition."

"Okay, yeah, we can change it up. Hinata let's−"

"Hinata's on my team. She has to fix my leg," Sasuke butt in. "Go choose your companion from over there," he said with a jerk of his head.

"Hey! Since when did you get to decide everything?!"

Blatantly ignoring him, Sasuke continued, "It looks like those two have been itching to fight anyways."

"Stupid teme...so bossy," Naruto complained. Next to him, Hinata giggled, covering her mouth with her hands.

"He is, isn't he? Sasuke-kun doesn't say much, but when he's set his mind on something he's so stubborn and pushy about it," Hinata puffed out her cheeks.

Within seconds, Naruto knelt on his knees and had two fists by her side. "What do you mean by that? He didn't do anything to you last night did he?" Alarm echoed in his voice and she could see the fear bright in his eyes.

"Naruto-kun?" On impulse, she reached a hand out and the tips of her fingers caressed his face. His eyes softened, cheek leaning into her warm touch. "I didn't mean to get you worried...It's nothing, really. Sasuke-kun just was...rather inquisitive about...getting me to open up about my feelings," her voice dropped quieter until she squeaked.

"Huh?" Fear morphed into confusion. "_Sasuke-teme_ talked to you about that stuff?! That guy, right there?" Naruto bent his elbow and pointed behind him.

Hinata nodded, giggling at Naruto's incredulous expression.

Sasuke snorted. "It wasn't intentional...Oi, don't look so surprised," he said crossly, folding his arm over his stomach. "Now stop wasting time and pick one of them."

Naruto grumbled some choice words, but obeyed, settling his eyes on Sakura and Sai. "Which one of you two wanna kick Sasuke's ass with me?" He bellowed, a broad grin splitting across his face.

Sai stood up...and pushed Sakura forward. "I think you should take this one," he proposed.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Sure, I don't mind. But what are you going to do?"

"Ino-san invited me for another round of 'the-two-of-us-alone-talking'. It seems that she has more emotions and 'gossip' to present to me today," Sai explained.

The pink-haired girl's jaw dropped. "You're going on a date with Ino? And another− so there's been multiple?!"

"Hmm…." Sai put a finger to his lips. "If a date means two people conversing in a small eatery then I suppose so."

"I can't believe you of all people have the most successful love life," Sakura groaned, rubbing her temples tenderly.

Sai chuckled nervously, inching away from her. His tongue still had fresh memories of the sooty taste of carpet.

As he backtracked out of the training grounds, he turned his head back towards the group of four. A part of him did wish he could stay; after all, it seemed like great field observations for his research. And maybe, he could have gathered some 'gossip' to present to Ino as well.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

**Author's Note: **This is still NaruHina, I swear! I'll start to get more directly into Naruto's development in the chapter following the next. Hinata's insecurities reflect what I once personally felt, and I hope it resonated with some of you too. I saw The Last this past Monday, and I loved it, it certainly fulfilled the romance I never expected from a shonen like Naruto. It was very cute, but even as a huge NaruHina shipper, I did find Naruto's romantic development a bit jarringly abrupt. It also reminded me of why I wanted to write this story in the first place, which is to fill in the gaps and develop the relationship.

And of course, thank you all for the reviews. :) Have a nice week!


	6. 3 Great Dōjutsu vs Powerhouses of Konoha

x-x-x-x-x-x

Three Great Dōjutsu vs. Powerhouses of Konoha

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

Sasuke pulled out two worn rags and ripped them each in half, resulting in four pieces of cloth. He tossed two of them at his opponents, Sakura and Naruto.

"Tie them around two different branches," he ordered. "We're going to play Capture-the-Flag. Each team tries to get the other team's two flags while defending their own. First team to capture both flags wins. Did you get all that, dobe?" Sasuke rolled his eyes as said dobe flipped him the bird.

Naruto matched his eye roll, making sure to exaggerate the movement. "Yeah yeah, kick the teme's ass, steal a flag, kick the teme's ass again, steal another flag, win! Then, head to Ichiraku where teme pays for dinner!"

"I never agreed to such things," Sasuke dryly retorted. He sighed, turning to Hinata. "I do not understand what you see in this twit."

Hinata's face glowed warmly, but she teased him right back, "I did not know that you were so interested in romantic matters, Sasuke-kun. I'm sure that Sakura-san will appreciate it," she said loftily, securing her rag tightly around a branch before joining him on the ground.

Sasuke frowned, and insisted, "I am not."

Once the flags were positioned, Sakura wasted no time getting started.

An enthusiastic ""SHANNAAARO!" bellowed out of Sakura, followed by a plume of dust exploding into the air. A summoned gust of wind, courtesy of her partner, propelled the dirt into a whirlwind.

Sasuke and Hinata simultaneously dodged to higher ground. "She created a giant crater in the forest floor, Sakura-san and Naruto-kun aren't there anymore," Hinata relayed, scanning for the two shinobi.

Sasuke huffed. "Our eyes can easily see through this dust but−"

"The dust acts as an irritant, and your Rinnegan's weakness is that it has trouble seeing through visual barriers," Hinata finished.

"How did you−"

"Like I would come here without doing research on all of you, Sasuke-kun, above us!" Hinata shifted into her fighting stance.

Looking up, he saw a rainstorm of Naruto clones hailing down from the sky.

"Clones, all of them!"

Sasuke inhaled deeply, "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique."

Blazing dragon heads fired off in succession, burning all the Narutos into clouds of smoke. Without missing a beat, Sasuke then directed his attention towards the whirlwind they had evaded. He shot blasts of fire to blow through the dust.

"Rasengan!"

"Water Release: Tearing Torrent!"

The techniques combined into a towering vortex of water. Powered by Naruto's wind swirling in the middle, water whipped up the sides in rapid spins. Sakura learned how to control her water-release affinity significantly better, he thought, mildly impressed. The Typhoon Water Vortex barraged into his fire dragons; the resulting collision of fire and water cloaking the forest in a steamy mist. They must have planned this.

"Hinata," he twisted to where she had last been standing. He didn't sense her presence. Focusing his Sharingan, he saw her chakra pattern facing off with Sakura's a couple trees away.

It was his opening to flip to the offensive. He didn't get very far, however, as he soon had to lift his arm up to catch a right hook.

"Rasengan!" He leaned back and ducked a wind sphere that nearly grazed his nose.

"You got lucky you missed that." Naruto emerged from the mist, a smirk playing at his lips.

"Tch. Child's play," Sasuke droned.

A shriek pierced through the air, one too high to belong to Sakura. The earth below them trembled as Sakura's deadly fists annihilated a tree. The crash of splitting wood and rustling of crisp foliage echoed throughout the forest.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried, immediately dropping his guard.

Sasuke's Sharingan honed in on Hinata, barely escaping Sakura's punch and dangling from a branch of a nearby tree. Sakura dashed for their flag. Sasuke was about to jump up to intercept her when Hinata hoisted herself up, and with incredible speed, rushed Sakura. It looked like his partner had the situation under control.

Taking advantage of Naruto's weakened defense, he thrust a punch into his gut, twisting his fist counter-clockwise to increase the force. Naruto slammed into the branch with a startled yelp. On his back, he coughed out thick phlegm. "What the hell!?"

"You weren't paying attention, so I took advantage," Sasuke said simply.

"You," Naruto hacked again, "bastard!"

Sasuke's lips pressed into a thin line. "You're letting yourself get too distracted. Restrain yourself," he advised.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto denied.

Sasuke sighed. "When Hinata is hurt you drop everything," he directly explained, "she will be your strength, but also your weakness. Trust that she can take care of herself."

To prove his point, he gestured towards the girls sparring above them. Hinata had activated her Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms defense to snap in half the barrage of poison senbons Sakura had flung her way.

Cracking her knuckles, Sakura smashed her fist on the branch they were standing on and jumped up to grip the branch above them. The medic-nin lunged for the flag, smirking when she snagged the rugged material between her fingers. Her victory was short-lived, however, as a flurry of punctures bombarded both of her forearms.

"Shit," Sakura flexed her arms, frowning at the bruises. "Your precision has really improved, Hinata," she grimaced as she realized she could no longer send chakra to her hands.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," Hinata said between pants. "Your strength and quick-thinking are also very formidable."

Sasuke suddenly materialized between the two kunoichi. "You let her take one," he scowled.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun, we'll be sure to get the next one," Hinata reassured. She held a hand up. "Before you continue and say that I could have intercepted, yes I know I could have. But it was either I choose the flag, or choose to disrupt Sakura-san's chakra network. Her powerful blows are because she controls her chakra with delicate efficiency and releases it in tandem with her physical strikes. Block that, and her immense strength is quite reduced. Also, immobilizing her hands limits her healing capabilities."

Sakura nodded. "Hinata's on point," a determined glint flickered into her green eyes. "But don't count me out yet! I've still got more in store."

Sasuke shrugged. "Fine," he clipped, returning back to the starting position.

"That guy− sorry Sakura-san, looks like I'll have to try even harder this round."

The pink-haired girl shook her head and smirked. "No I'm glad, let's both do our best!"

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The second round lasted longer than the first, wearing them all down to the core. Even without the full strength of her taijutsu prowess, Sakura still could inflict plenty of damage. While Naruto distracted Sasuke and Hinata with clones, Sakura arranged quite an array of poisonous traps and sleep bombs.

When Naruto became a serious threat, rather than a serious annoyance, Sasuke had unsheathed his sword, charging it with Chidori's blue electricity.

The scales finally tipped when, on a thick and sturdy branch, Naruto and Hinata sparred cleanly with taijutsu. She knew that even if she deactivated her Byakugan, she would still feel the immense power repressed under his taut skin. The number of attempts he made in striking her could be counted on one hand, and when he did try, his hits could easily be deflected. Instead, his focus fell to just _dodging_ her offensive attacks.

As Naruto brought his arms up in a cross to defend against a jab to his upper body, Hinata caught his wrist.

"Naruto-kun…you don't have to go easy on me," she said firmly, frustration edging into her tone.

"I-I'm not," he protested, chuckling weakly.

Hinata took a deep breath. "You won't hurt me, I'm strong enough to take a bit of pain," she persisted.

Naruto straightened, a serious expression on his face. "I know that, of course you're strong. I know first hand how amazing you are," Naruto declared, "It's just that…" He paused, reddening as he found himself at a loss.

"Oi," Sasuke's impatient monotone intoned, saving Naruto from further embarrassment. "Hinata, your movements are still too slow."

Her head snapped towards him, but before she could speak Sasuke continued, "Take off your jacket, it'll make you more aerodynamic. You're wearing something underneath I assume. It'll speed you up…and this round too," he added, his eyes innocently traveling to Naruto.

She raised an eyebrow and questioned, "What do you mean?"

Sasuke shrugged one shoulder. "Just a hunch."

Still perplexed, Hinata unzipped her jacket and peeled it off her torso. She stood in black ninja pants, but more notably, in rather…form-fitting mesh armor.

Naruto faltered, pink tingeing his cheeks.

His defenses opened just long enough for her to catch him in a low sweep, and as he tumbled onto his butt, she slipped past him and grabbed the flag in between her fingers.

With a triumphant smile stretched wide across her face, she turned towards Sasuke, who grunted in approval. However, her attention soon turned to a dumbfounded Naruto, who still sat as motionlessly as a log. "Naruto-kun? Are you okay?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Oh um, yup! Absolutely fine," Naruto cracked a smile at her, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

Sakura appeared then, and snatched Naruto up by his collar before proceeding to drag him away.

A hint of a smile ghosted on Sasuke's lips as he eavesdropped on Sakura scolding Naruto. They believed that they were too far away to be within earshot, but they didn't take into consideration their lack of…volume control.

"Naruto you idiot! How could you lose to sexual tension? Not to Chidori Charge, or to Gentle Fist Palms, but to _freakin' sexual tension_. You don't see me losin' it over Sasuke-kun's hot, sweaty...muscular body."

Naruto scoffed, disgruntlement clear on his face. "What the hell? That comparison isn't even fair! I don't know how you're even attracted to the 'dirty hobo' look the teme's got going on."

"It isn't about the clothes! It's about the person wearing them!" Sakura grabbed Naruto by the front of his jacket and shook him.

"So…_less_ clothes mean _more_ person which means _more_ distraction. Right? So…not my fault?"

"_No _still very much your fault."

"Geez Sakura-chan…alright next time we fight I'm going to propose that Sasuke-teme goes shirtless and we'll see how _that_ goes."

Next to him, Hinata chattered about something, oblivious to their opponent's ridiculous dispute. He regarded her with blank eyes, vaguely wondering how he got so distracted by his teammate's bickering.

"What did you say," he stated the question.

Hinata sighed. "Never mind…it wasn't important."

"Okay," his mouth said, but he stared at her with a disquieting intensity.

It didn't take long for her to relent. "All I said was, how about I target Sakura-san and you target Naruto-kun? Now please s-stop looking at me like that."

Heeding her request, Sasuke's eyes flicked upwards to a falling leaf, flipping languidly from side to side. "You do not believe that you are strong enough to fight Naruto? You sparred with me earlier," he reminded.

"It's not that…" Hinata folded her arms, hands clasping onto her elbows. "It just seems that…Naruto-kun is uncomfortable fighting with me. Is it because of the way I excused myself last night? Oh no…I hope I didn't upset him," Hinata worried, biting her lip.

"Even if you tried, I doubt you could upset him," Sasuke replied honestly.

"Really? He was really upset when you left, Sasuke-kun. And he gets upset when he hasn't eaten for a few hours−"

"No," he cut off, "I meant…never mind," he stopped himself and returned to the more pressing matter. "Fine, you cover Sakura, I'll take the dobe. I'm going to release my Great Fireball technique, and you chase after it. They may try to attack it head on, or if they're smart, evade it. Make sure you're fast enough to make it in time and use your Vacuum Palm. We'll improvise from there."

"I understand," Hinata affirmed, activating the arteries and veins around her eyes.

Sasuke closed his eyes, concentrating his chakra. He exhaled deeply, his diaphragm rising to push the air out of his lungs. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

An enormous ball of fire accelerated towards the remainder of Team 7, both of whom ceased their squabbling immediately. Hinata sprinted close behind the jutsu's heels.

Naruto placed his hands over one another to summon his signature Shadow Clones, but was interrupted by Sakura shoving him.

"Don't bother fighting it! Dodge!" She ordered. As Sakura sprung up in the air, grabbing Naruto by the collar, she suddenly sensed another presence and twisted around to send off a flurry of poison senbon.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" A wave of highly pressurized chakra burst towards them, hurling the poison senbon back at them.

"Gah," Sakura gasped as she whipped out a kunai to deflect her own weapons. Her muscles slackened as the Vacuum Palm inflicted some damage. She knew she didn't have time to lose.

Keeping up the fast pace, Sasuke charged up a Chidori and slammed it into his own fireball, sending flames flying everywhere. As one particularly large chunk crashed into Naruto's back, the blond jerked out of Sakura's grasp and glared daggers at the perpetrator.

"Teme! I just did my laundry!" Naruto shouted, waving one hand angrily while the other arm swatted his back furiously.

"Then I see why you're so upset, after all, laundry for you is a once-a-year occurrence," Sasuke remarked.

"Alright that's it you're askin' for it now!" Naruto summoned two clones and began whirling together wind chakra.

"Tch." Sasuke reached behind his back to pull out his sword. He squeezed his fist on the hilt for blue electricity to run up its length.

Ten Naruto clones ran up to Sasuke, attempting to distract the Uchiha as the real Naruto charged at him, wind blades spinning in his hand. "Rasenshuriken!"

Raising his sword, Sasuke blocked the attack, his feet dragging in the dirt as the momentum propelled him backwards. He couldn't slice through the dense chakra, but managed to get his Chidori to travel onto the Rasenshuriken and infuse it with dancing blue light. He angled his sword and repelled it straight at Naruto.

Instead of countering with a brash, head on attack, Naruto somersaulted out of the way. Dread trickled down Sasuke's throat the moment he saw where−or more specifically who−the attack headed towards.

"Sakura," he hissed her name. Sword forgotten on the ground, he leapt towards the pink-haired girl. Behind him, he heard Naruto call his name. He ignored him completely. Sasuke cursed, using his Rinnegan's ability to teleport faster.

"Sasuke! What's going on?" The blond shouted from afar.

"Stop your attack," Sasuke called back, desperation leaking into his command.

"Stop my−It doesn't work that way! Rasenshuriken is still hard for me to control in my normal form!" Naruto's eyes followed the path of their combined attack; panic welled into his stomach as he too noticed the target. "Hin…Hinata! Sakura!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Sakura was wiping sweat off her brow when Naruto's obnoxious voice rang through her ears. Before she could move, however, a familiar whizzing buzz arrested her attention.

Sasuke swore under his breath, pumping his legs to run faster.

Sakura turned, her mouth falling agape as a sharp, spinning mass of wind chakra barreled towards her. Fear dilated her pupils, breath hitching tightly as her feet rooted themselves to the tree. Her eyes flickered to match his, and in that instant he could see each traumatic incidence−_caused by no one other than himself_−flash through them. Or, was that his own memories reflected onto her eyes?

Shit. This can't be happening, not again. It seemed that all Sasuke could ever do was hurt her. Instead of cleansing his list of sins, his bloody ledger only seemed to grow longer.

Suddenly, in a flash of dark hair and pale skin, Sakura was tackled to the ground, safe from harm's way.

"Hi…Hinata…" Sakura rasped. She shot upright and anxiously called her name, "Hinata!"

"Hinata!" Naruto's frantic voice clamored. "Are you okay?"

Hinata slowly craned her neck towards him and nodded. "I'm fine," she said shakily. Clearing her throat, she reiterated more confidently, "Don't worry about me, I just received a small scratch." She lifted the hand covering her shoulder to reveal a gash gushing out blood. Warm blood trickled over her fingers. One eye shut close and she winced, but she managed to conceal it from Naruto. "Though the Chidori current is admittedly…unpleasant," she confessed under her breath, loud enough for only Sakura to hear.

Sakura's hands immediately glowed a comforting green and she leaned towards Hinata. With her free arm, Hinata carefully restored Sakura's disrupted chakra network. The intensity of her healing power multiplied ten-fold, blooming into a brilliant sphere of light. Still quivering, Sakura looked up at Hinata's kind smile, bravely bracing the pain. Overwhelming love and gratitude surged through her. She couldn't help herself, and threw her arms around Hinata in a tight embrace.

"Sakura-san," Hinata blinked in surprise, but automatically returned the gesture.

Like water bursting out of a dam, relief flooded Sasuke's chest. He skidded to a stop and placed a closed fist over his heart.

Naruto caught up to Sasuke, who hunched over with his hands on his knees. "Oh thank god, I'm so relieved they're both okay." Naruto dropped to a squat and let out a low whistle.

Sasuke didn't say anything.

"That could have gone really bad…" Naruto continued, lips curving into a frown.

"You think?" Sasuke ground out, narrowing his eyes to a glare.

Naruto's frown pressed tighter, taken aback by Sasuke's sudden rage.

"You need to train. A lot more. Train until you can control the Rasenshuriken like second nature," Sasuke demanded, impatience coursing through his words.

"I know that! I saw what almost happened too!" Naruto cried.

The Uchiha ignored him. "Your current mastery of Rasenshuriken in your normal state is clumsy at best. Change that."

"I know I know geez, you don't have to keep on repeating it. It's like you're trying to pin all the blame on me…" Blue eyes widened and he whipped his head towards Sasuke. "Wait…it's because you _are. _You can't handle another one, can you?"

Sasuke said nothing. The idiot's perceptiveness checked in at all the wrong times.

"You can't have another memory of hurting Sakura, so you have to shove this on me. I'm right aren't I?"

Once again, Sasuke said nothing, but he shifted so his back was turned to Naruto.

It was enough of a confirmation.

The dots connected in Naruto's head. "So when you said earlier…that Hinata is my greatest weakness, you only said that 'cause you're in a similar situation, aren't you?"

"Shut up," Sasuke finally spoke in a reluctant grumble. "No one asked you."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Sakura-san, I'm fine really. This isn't anything compared to other injuries." Hinata gently removed her friend's hand from her shoulder. She smiled gratefully. "I've already taken up too much of your chakra."

Worried green eyes continued to examine her shoulder. "Are you sure? I've barely infused any chakra…"

"Mhmm," she reassured. "I almost can't feel the effects of the Chidori current anymore, and honestly the Rasenshuriken barely scratched me."

Both boys suddenly materialized next to her. On impulse, Naruto tenderly ran his fingers over the jagged scar. It extended for a solid six-inches. "I'm sorry, Hinata…" he said miserably.

Hinata shook her head from side to side. "There's no need to apologize Naruto-kun, you didn't do anything wrong. You're both fussing over nothing."

"Hinata," a low voice called.

Raising an eyebrow, Hinata turned towards Sasuke. "Not you too."

Although Sasuke's expression didn't change, she noted that he seemed to be struggling with something.

"I…" he started, but quickly trailed off into an uncomfortable silence.

A laugh slipped out, and she brought a hand up towards her mouth. "It's okay Sasuke-kun, you don't have to finish. You're welcome." White eyes furtively landed on Sakura before giving Sasuke a knowing look.

"Anyways, thank you to everyone for allowing me to train with the original Team 7, it was an honor, and so fun as well!"

Team 7 collectively blinked. Sakura moved first and wrapped an arm around Hinata's good shoulder. "Hinata! There's no need to be so formal, you're always welcome here!"

"Yeah definitely!" Naruto's boisterous voice contributed eagerly. "It's rare to have someone here who's actually…_nice_ to me."

Sasuke too, nodded his assent.

Hinata smiled, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "Thank you, everyone."

Hinata excused herself not long after, explaining that she needed to return home before her father became worried.

As Naruto watched her retreating back, he felt the strangest warmth engulf him. He gulped, and then croakily cleared his throat.

"Hey guys, I think I'm going to head out too," he announced to his teammates.

"Already?" Sakura asked in confusion. "This is pretty early for you."

"Yeah, I've got er−stuff to do," he said evasively. With a shaky smile, Naruto bid his teammates goodbye and departed.

Sasuke followed the blond with his eyes, vaguely noting the odd behavior. Usually, Naruto would have stayed longer and pushed his limits−he continuously prattled that nothing felt better than flopping onto bed with aching muscles.

"Are you going to head home too, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she packed her weapons into her pouch.

"Soon," he answered.

Silence stretched between them but neither felt the need to fill the space with words.

"I'm going to head home now, Sasuke-kun, see you tomorrow?" She asked.

He nodded, and couldn't help but notice the way her shoulders unwound as he confirmed his presence for another day, as if her dream could last another day. It was still unfathomable to him that he fit into someone's dreams rather than their nightmares. Though, he had a sinking feeling that he existed in both of hers.

"Thank you."

Green eyes widened, the confusion swimming in them evident. "For what?" She inquired, unable to keep the astonishment out of her tone.

Sasuke looked away from her searching gaze, "Kindness is not a weakness," he settled on saying.

Luckily for him, she understood immediately.

"Oh Sasuke-kun…" Sakura bounded up to him and for a second, seemed like she wanted to throw her arms around him. But in a jerky, rigid movement she stopped herself, opting for a bright smile instead. "I'm proud of you," she said sincerely, her smile crinkling into her eyes.

He didn't say anything in return…although a dark corner in the recess of his mind wondered what it would have felt like to have her arms around him again.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

**Author's Note: **I conducted a lot of research for writing this battle and did my best, I hope it managed to be accurate enough. You all can probably guess who's chapter(s) are coming next. :) I also started a new NaruHina AU series: **Of Parallel Lines and Intersections** that will be my next focus after this.

Some interesting guest reviews to address:  
**Fuu:** I see where you're coming from, I was apprehensive about naming this Consolation Prize as well because I thought that the negative connotation could deter readers. The more I thought about it though, the more I liked the irony of the title and how it could be an interesting theme.  
**Destoryah24: **Yes there will be more hints of Sasuke's development for SasuSaku, but NaruHina still needs their progress. To put it shortly, to develop a realistic SasuSaku from Sasuke's side...will probably take another story!  
**To the general comments about The Last:** I appreciate the comments about this story being like a prologue to The Last :) I agree with most of you, and like someone said, I felt like it would have been nice if there was a montage that showed what happened in the time gap.


	7. Naruto's Confusion:Sand in the Hourglass

x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto's Confusion: Sand in the Hourglass

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

He didn't know her favorite color.

If he had to guess, he would say it was a shade of purple, probably a light lavender.

But he couldn't say for certain.

It was long past the usual time he headed home, and the sweat from the day's training session had dried and would be unnoticeable if not for the gross, tangy stench. He raked at his skin, grey dirt caking underneath his fingernails. Oh, he guessed that was pretty gross too.

He brushed thoughts of personal hygiene to the side and sprawled his limbs out wider, his arms stretching to the sides of his body and legs spreading apart, as if making a snow angel. The grass felt cool against his back, and he barely noticed the itchy blades digging through his jacket and into his skin. The night sky was devoid of a moon, but the stars glowed like dim candles to compensate.

He didn't know her favorite food. He didn't know what she did in her free time, what hobbies she enjoyed. Frankly, it all dwindled to the conclusion that he…did not know her well. His chest pinched.

How much did she really know him? Could she list off his favorite foods and colors and hobbies? Could she not know them and still call it love anyways? …Was she sure she wanted to be in love with him?

Granted, the aftermath of the war had made him a busy man. He had immediately been whisked away on diplomatic missions and obligations and responsibilities rushed through his mind one after another. But that didn't mean there weren't lulls in his journey where her words, her _confession_−determination resounding in her opening, honesty saturating each sentence, and lastly, the farewell declaration-played themselves over and over in his head.

He thought he was going crazy, seeing her in everything. Her eyes in the moon, her silky hair in every dark-haired villager, even her scent in a homey tea shop he visited. He knew he felt something for her, something he had never felt for anyone before. But, a label like love or a crush only served to confuse him more.

However, he knew one thing for certain: he had never felt more overwhelming rage and pain drench through him than the moment he believed she died. Despite how strong and capable he knew she was, he never wanted to see her hurt again. He wouldn't forgive himself, or anyone, that inflicted pain on her.

"Hinata…" Her name rolled off his tongue with a familiar ease.

Ironically, she probably knew how to phrase his feelings better than he did. After all, she had a knack for saying the right things exactly when he needed them. His mind rummaged through memory drawers, picking up the ones that contained any shred of Hinata.

A hushed conversation during the written exam, heartfelt encouragement before his Chuunin match, protecting him not once, but _twice_…she had always been there. Always. From the start. Even as the village pariah and weakest ninja, she had been on his side. That fact alone made him eternally grateful for her.

But…was this romance? Love? How was this love different than Iruka-sensei's support? Where were her constant requests for dates? Endless proclamations of her undying love? Or the cute gifts in neatly tied boxes and ribbons? That was what people in love did…right? In all honesty, he still couldn't believe that someone like her loved someone like him before it became some cool fad to do so.

He wanted to tell her only truths. He wanted his feelings to be genuine and boldly stated with every fiber of his heart. And well…one and a half years later he still didn't know what to do. On top of his own muddled understanding of romance, everything he had admitted at Ino's party was true. He didn't have a clue about being charming, romantic, or the means to give her the world. She deserved the best, and he didn't know if someone like _him_− someone who underneath the Village Hero glamor was really just an average guy far from a prince− could fit that criteria.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The next morning, when the sun had barely risen over the horizon, he flipped the covers off his body and sat up, slouching as he watched the orange sphere peek through his blinds. Running his hand through his mussed hair, he collected his training supplies and headed to Team 7's training grounds.

Dark circles hooded his eyes, but to make up for cutting yesterday short, he planned to push himself to the limit today. Besides, it's not like he could sleep anyways.

Quieting the brewing storm in his mind, he summoned two shadow clones. One created sharp blue wind, while the other began to whirl it into the shape of a spinning blade.

Although his arm was a small price to pay for the return of his best friend…being one arm short did have its shortcomings. Namely, mastering precise control of the Rasenshuriken. New struggles cropped up, whether it be controlling his chakra blades correctly or steering his attack. He shuddered as he recalled almost harming Hinata and Sakura.

His prosthetic throbbed, and he carefully glanced around the training grounds before unraveling the bandages on his hand. Pale, wrinkly skin exposed itself to him. The thin skin, akin to a sheet of translucent paper, wrapped over garish green veins. Red incisions lined his hand, and he grimaced at the possibility of the Rasenshuriken causing microscopic damage.

A warm chakra pattern approached him, and he immediately recognized the familiar presence. He fell off the log, landing on his rump with a startled yelp. The figure slowed to a halt a few meters away from him.

"Naruto-kun…?" She began, eyes shrouded in worry.

"Hinata! Hi," he greeted cheerfully, slipping his hand behind his back. "Are you going to be training with us again today?"

Hinata bit her lip, not completely warded of her concern, but fortunately didn't pry. "No, not today, though yesterday was very fun," she smiled, and Naruto mirrored her with a grin, "I just thought that I'd pay a visit before training with Team 8. Kiba-kun always wakes up late, and Shino-kun usually is an early riser but strangely, he's not there yet." She paused, and tentatively said, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, did I interrupt you from your training?"

"Nah Hinata, I was taking a break anyways," he assured. As he waved his hand to dismiss her qualms, a wince shot across his face. His injured prosthetic quivered as it suddenly had to support the brunt of his weight.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" The alarm surged in her tone. She trotted towards him and knelt down, eyeing his propped arm suspiciously.

"It's nothing! Ah…don't worry about me," he said quickly, inching away from her.

"Um…okay," she replied uncertainly, tucking her calves under her knees and sitting on them. Prim, proper, and straight-backed, she emitted the aura of a princess. Hell, she probably _was_ the closest thing to a princess. The glazed look in her eyes made him want to explain himself, and before he knew it he spewed out more words.

"D-Don't think that means I feel uncomfortable around you or anything like that. I just…don't want you to have to see it, don't want anyone to have to," he amended, turning his head back and lifting his chin towards his arm.

Shock replaced her solemn stare. "How did you…?"

"I can see it in your eyes," he teased.

"Oh, am I that obvious?" She blushed prettily, looking down at her hands.

"No, you're not. I can just tell," he answered honestly, not quite sure why her face heated up even redder.

Hinata took a deep breath, and seemed to will her face to return to a normal color. "Naruto-kun, I will not force you to share something you wish to keep hidden, but," she met his eyes, her sincerity and full attention making his heart pump faster, "I want you to know that I am not afraid of anything about you. No physical affliction changes who you are."

His mouth dried, and he suddenly became painfully aware of how chapped his lips were. Something about Hinata made him want to pour his soul on her; shower her with his insecurities and let himself feel really small because he selfishly _knew_ she'd pick him back up.

Naruto hunched forward, legs splayed apart in front of him, and laid his good arm over his knee. His prosthetic fingers twitched as they slowly crawled out from behind his back.

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked politely, to which he nodded in response. "In that case, may I see it please?" She coaxed.

He brought his hand out a little closer until it rested in the shadow of his knee. His eyes widened as Hinata boldly took the initiative and lifted his hand, laying it like a feather onto her palm. Her nose scrunched as she inspected it, and his shame multiplied ten-fold.

She noticed, and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." She gently massaged the crease between his fingers before continuing, "Naruto-kun you have cuts all over your hand, you have to give yourself a break," she reprimanded, though not unkindly.

He chuckled nervously, trying to stealthily wriggle out of her grasp. "They're so small though! It's no big deal."

She shook her head and pulled out a brown jar with her free hand. "Please, allow me to apply my Hyūga clan ointment on your wounds," she insisted.

"No, you don't have to, um I mean, I appreciate the thought but…" he trailed off.

Her fingers interwove with his, her thumb rubbing circles on the back of his hand. "It doesn't matter what it looks like because it's Naruto-kun's hand, and I like..." She hesitated and swallowed her words. But it didn't take long for her to restart, "I like that Naruto-kun's hand is so big and warm." She lightly squeezed his hand.

His face inflamed red, and the normally loudmouth clumsy ninja found himself speechless. He didn't protest as she generously slathered white ointment over his cuts, sealing them almost immediately.

"Dobe."

His head snapped up to the rude interruption.

Before he could answer with his own brash comeback, Hinata spoke up.

"Hello to you too, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said cordially, although the tinge of sarcasm was far from subtle.

Naruto blinked, completely unfamiliar to the sweet girl having a drop of sass.

"Oh," Sasuke glanced over to her as if just detecting her presence. "I was referring to him."

"I guessed as much."

"You're training with us again?" Sasuke asked.

"Not today, I'll be training with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun soon," she replied.

"Oh," he said noncommittally, though the smallest twinge of disappointment flashed across his eyes. In those few exchanges of words, Naruto felt that familiar hollow pit forming in his abdomen. His fingers clutched onto hers.

"Maybe later," she added, "after all we still didn't finish our competition." Hinata directed her attention back to Naruto, "Sakura-san and you are very fierce competition. It's as if you two can read each other's thoughts."

He jumped at being addressed, but recovered quickly. Unconsciously, Naruto puffed out his chest. "Pretty much, that's the result of training together everyday for the last…forever. At first, our teamwork wasn't easy to get down. And even now, half of our training sessions still end up in an argument," he ended with a huff.

Hinata finished healing him and slowly drew her hand out of his grasp. She didn't look up as she screwed on the lid. "But isn't that good, Naruto-kun? You like girls who are able to speak their minds," she said, carefully nonchalant.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Huh?" Leaning forward, he tried to catch her eye. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hinata," Sasuke called, and when she turned to look at Sasuke, he drilled her with a reproachful glare. Instead of becoming intimidated, Hinata merely sighed. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her Chuunin attire.

"It's nothing, Naruto-kun. Anyways it's starting to get late, so I should check up on Team 8's training grounds. Good bye Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," she bowed to them and then left the area.

A few minutes after she departed, Naruto groaned. "Teme, you ruined the mood!"

"Hn. You would have ruined it soon anyways," Sasuke curtly retorted.

The blond ninja sunk his face into his palms, fingers coming to a rest right below blue eyes. He wanted to grumble a crass comeback, but instead, let the truth in the words sink in.

The next few days panned out relatively normally: Training until his body wore out, lollygagging around town chatting with the villagers, awkwardly accepting gifts from fan girls, and eating Ichiraku ramen as a good percentage of his nutrition. Even though everything appeared fine, he had a lingering feeling in his gut that something was _not_ fine at all.

It didn't help that Hinata didn't show up to the training grounds again. Or anywhere in his life.

Apparently, he hadn't been the only one to notice.

"Hm. I wonder where Hinata has been," Sakura wondered out loud, taking a large swig of water from her bottle. She decided to take a break from practicing her punches to observe Sasuke and Naruto's sparring match.

"I don't know either," Naruto responded, keeping his voice casual as he blocked Sasuke's kick.

"She's on a mission with her team," Sasuke answered, not batting an eyelash as he observed Naruto's jaw clench.

"Oh, since when?" Sakura inquired, surprised that Sasuke of all people knew the answer.

"The day after she visited the dobe here."

"How do you know that?" Naruto tried to ask neutrally, but nevertheless, impatience spilled into his tone. He thrust a fist towards Sasuke's face.

Sasuke caught the sloppy punch effortlessly; shoes skidding back at the immense power Naruto poured into it. "Saw her and her team before they left," he replied shortly, with an informal familiarity that twisted Naruto's stomach in knots.

"When did you two become so chummy?" Naruto blurted out, borderline snapping, "You were so mean to her before."

Sasuke sighed, he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was headed. He leapt back a fair distance away. "I wouldn't consider us that familiar. Besides, aren't you the one always complaining about how I need to open up and make more 'friends'?"

"Yeah, but…" Naruto fiddled with the loose end of his bandage, ending his two-word argument with a pout.

The Uchiha scowled as he strung the pieces together. "You're jealous. Are you kidding me?"

When it seemed Naruto didn't plan to answer, Sasuke continued, "You are friends with literally everyone in the village and you're jealous that I have three−maybe four− people I interact with."

"No it's not that," Naruto refuted, and then sighed himself. "I'm happy that you're friends now, at least I think you two are? Really, I am. I guess…I just want to get closer to her too."

Sasuke snorted. "If that's the case, then you should know that the lack of said closer friendship is your fault. Completely."

Perplexed, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "_Completely _my fault?! That's pretty harsh don't ya think…How? I've always been nice to her."

"Yes, completely," Sasuke candidly repeated. "So what if you're nice to her? You're nice to everyone."

"Yeah so, what's wrong with that?"

"All I'm saying is that," Sasuke paused, lips curling into a slight frown, "you're not doing anything special."

Grinding his feet into the crusty dirt, Naruto breathed out in exasperation. "Why does everyone keep talking to me in these sort of riddles?!"

"They're not riddles," Sasuke dryly replied, "It's exactly as I say." He rolled his eyes as Naruto's lower lip jutted out even further. Sasuke didn't feel particularly inclined to elaborate, and more importantly, something else in his peripheral vision suddenly attracted his attention.

"You're leaving?" He questioned, the tiniest lilt hidden in his monotone.

Sakura stopped gathering her supplies and looked up in surprise. "Oh−me?"

Sasuke answered her with a straight stare.

"Yeah," she said, interpreting his gaze as a 'yes,' "Sai asked me to help him prepare before we headed over to Ino's tonight. Something about 'procuring an appropriate gift.'" Sakura finished pocketing her kunai and senbon before speaking again, "You're coming tonight too, aren't you Sasuke-kun?"

His lips pressed together. "I don't want to," he admitted plainly.

"Aw come on Sasuke-kun, please? It'll be fun," she encouraged.

Sasuke remained silent, but his eyebrows drew closer together.

"I want you to come, but," Sakura lightly chuckled, "you don't have to if you really don't want to. I know how that kind of setting isn't your thing."

"Wait what? Ino's throwing a party tonight?" Naruto piped up, scratching his blond hair.

"Kind of. More like, a get-together since she's still alone and she's bored that she didn't get a mission this week. Though knowing her, there probably is alcohol involved," Sakura added as an afterthought.

"Hey how come I didn't know about this!" Naruto whined.

Sakura shrugged and said bluntly, "It's probably because she's mad at you for turning down Hinata last week."

"I did _not_ turn her down!" He rejected vehemently, startling both of his teammates. The guilt he had been quietly suppressing all week spilled into his mind, fogging up his already tumultuous thoughts.

Sakura grunted doubtfully. "Alright Naruto, whatever you say. Why don't you just come too? Ino's actually pretty good about forgiving her grudges."

Naruto pouted. "But I wasn't invited."

"It is likely that Hinata will be there…" Sasuke chimed in, and before his teammates could pester him with more questions, explained, "her mission was only supposed to last for a few days."

"Then that settles it, just go, talk to her, and get closer. Easy as crushing a boulder," Sakura said with a simper.

"What kind of analogy is that? Only you would think that crushing a boulder is easy, Sakura-chan."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a baby! Well it's up to you two to decide if you want to show up, I'm starting to run late so I've got to go." With a quick wave of her hand, she turned and zipped out of the training grounds.

"Ergh." Naruto flopped onto his back and absently watched the clouds drifting across the sky. "What am I even nervous about? It's a party with all my _friends_. It's not like I'm about to take down a big bad guy or somethin'."

Sasuke didn't answer him; in fact, he hadn't been paying attention to anything. Naruto tilted his head, his eyes narrowed in curious slits as he scrutinized his best friend. Sasuke's eyebrows still knit tightly together, and turmoil reflected off his dark eyes…he was…conflicted? Naruto shot up to an upright position.

"You…you serious? You actually want to go?"

The dark-haired boy glared at him, though it definitely lacked the usual ice. "Shut up. Nobody asked you."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Not much had changed in the week since they were last at Ino's house. Except for one, glaring addition. Or to be more specific, _multiple_ glaring additions.

As Naruto revolved in a full 360 degree turn, he wondered if he hallucinated all of it.

"Did…the Yamanaka's adopt Hinata?" Sasuke voiced Naruto's thoughts out loud as his dark eyes stared blankly ahead. Naruto followed his line of vision to a photo of Hinata in a little black dress. Her palm blocked the camera lens, shielding half of her figure.

Oh, so he wasn't imaging things.

"I don't…think so?" Naruto replied hesitantly. He rotated slightly, and found himself face to face with another photo of Hinata framed on Ino's wall. In the clearly candid shot of Hinata's side profile, she had bent over to slip her foot into a stiletto and adjust complicated-looking criss-cross straps. Her long ponytail cascaded down her back, completely exposing the side of her face. His eyes trailed from her foot up her leg and he waited and _waited _to meet some fabric that covered her skin. His throat tightened as no fabric concealed her skin until a good few inches above her knee, as her dress had ridden up when she sat down. Leaving nothing but pale, creamy legs− legs that he'd never seen more than a glimpse of prior to Ino's birthday party.

A pulsing pressure throbbed in his lower regions. He whipped his head down, and flushed at what had decided to make itself known. He had only seen a freakin' _leg_ and that's all it took?! It's not like he peeked at anything else or, and he certainly wasn't a pervert that was _trying_ to peek at anything else. Especially to a sweet girl like Hinata. Thank goodness he decided to wear loose pants tonight…he discreetly nudged his bulging erection to lay flat against his thigh.

"Kakashi's face has three stupid looking whiskers on each cheek. Oh, and hair. Hair everywhere. On the lips, chin, nose…everywhere."

"WHAT?!" Naruto instantly came to, jumping back and gaping at Sasuke.

"Tch, finally," Sasuke groused. "You didn't say anything for the past few minutes. Must be a new record."

"Oh um…s-sorry," he stuttered, eyes briefly flickering back to the photo of Hinata.

Sasuke raised both his eyebrows, but didn't comment on the matter.

It turned out that he didn't have to, as a hand shot out from behind the two boys and slammed the wall between them.

"Hey! Naruto, no ogling!" Ino glowered at Naruto, her fingers spread wide over the photo that Naruto had apparently, been conspicuously staring at.

The boy in question held his hands up, and the…_problem_ in his lower regions shriveled back down. "I w-wasn't!"

"Hm…" Ino hummed, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"Why are there photos of Hinata all over your house anyways?" Naruto asked, hoping to re-direct the attention off of him.

"There are some photos of Sakura and Team 10 too." She gestured towards one photo of Sakura and herself as children, and another of Team 10 as genin, sprawled out asleep in the grass.

"Yeah but they're surrounded by…" Naruto raised his finger to point out the ten photos of Hinata that flocked the two photos she mentioned.

"Oh so what?" Ino brushed him off. "The world needs more photos of Hinata. I've put some up all over the Yamanaka Flower Shop too and business has been booming!"

"Isn't that more so because of the end of summer season sale rather than Hinata's influence?" Sasuke supplied.

"That's just a small factor, really. Business is booming because of Hinata!" Ino insisted.

Naruto only half-listened to the remainder of Ino's rambling, still fixated on the fact that Ino had tacked up photos of Hinata in a public store –a popular, high-traffic, public store. That uncomfortable hollow carved into his stomach again. He gulped down thick saliva, and then flicked his tongue over his dry lips. He barely noticed as Sakura and Sai entered the scene, his mouth offering his teammates an automatic greeting.

It was only when Sakura stopped next to him, grumbling something under her breath, that he pulled himself back to reality.

"What'd you say again?" Naruto asked.

Sakura berated him with a glare for not listening, but didn't verbalize any chastisement. "I said, that after all the suggestions I gave him, which were all _great_, I can't believe he decided on his own dumb gift."

"What? What are you talking about?" He scrunched his nose in confusion.

"You'll see," came Sakura's cryptic answer, motioning towards Sai. She crossed her arms beneath her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Ino-san, I've prepared a gift for you," Sai announced, holding out a wrapped package to her.

"You did?" Surprise colored her face and her lips parted slightly. "What's the occasion?"

"Absolutely none," Sai replied, almost cheerily. "My research indicated that people enjoy spontaneous gestures of affection."

Giggles escaped out of Ino, and she happily took the gift into her hands. "Oh Sai, you didn't have to. Thank you." She tore into the wrapping paper…and burst out laughing at the contents.

Sakura slapped a palm against her forehead.

"It…it's perfect," Ino examined the bottle in her hand, holding it by the neck. "No man's ever given me booze before."

Sai plastered on a smile, or maybe it was even genuine, while Sakura's jaw plunged open.

"Wait, you actually like it?! Are you kidding me? What about I don't know, some flowers? Or that cute shirt you were eyeing the other day?" Sakura cried.

"I do like those," Ino stated. "But I like it when Sai acts like himself too," she admitted, smiling coquettishly at the dark-haired boy.

Sai blinked, tilting his head to the side.

Sakura heaved a sigh, but nonetheless, her lips quirked into a smile. "All for the best, I suppose."

On the other side of Naruto, Sasuke viewed the scene with an unusual interest. Contrary to his usual aloofness, he analyzed the interactions with a steadfast intensity.

"Huh? You're actually paying attention to this?" Naruto noted quizzically.

Sasuke glared icily at him through the corner of his eye. "Why do you only notice the most insignificant things?" He growled, before taking a deep intake of breath and walking away.

"What the– don't flatter yourself!" Naruto bit back.

From beside him, Sakura watched Sasuke head towards the window to brood, the most curious expression on her face.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"I asked for a dare! Not a truth!" Ino complained, sitting back in her seat and crossing her legs.

"T-Then I dare you to answer the question!" Kiba modified, retorting back just as hotly.

"Oh whatever, fine, it's an easy one anyways." Even though her cheeks already flushed a deep cherry-red, the blonde guzzled down more of her drink.

"Alright, first up, I'd kill…." Blue eyes shifted around the room in a slow circle. Her gaze hovered over the person beside Hinata. "Sorry Shino, it's got to be you. I know you the least out of everyone here…and bugs creep me out."

Shino didn't respond, but his rigid posture slackened and he sunk lower into his jacket's collar.

"Ouch…" Kiba sucked air through his teeth. "Maybe daring Ino to answer who she'd fuck, marry, and kill in here wasn't my best idea," he whispered to Hinata.

"Shino-kun…" Hinata glanced worriedly at her teammate before turning towards Ino. "L-Let's move on! Who would you marry, Ino-san?"

"That, is an absolute no brainer." She made a show of looking around the room before planting her eyes on Hinata. "You."

"Me?" Hinata peeped, straightening up in surprise.

"I can already imagine it…I'll be coming home from a long, hard mission. All disgusting and in desperate need of a shower, but when I come home I'll hear the sweetest 'Welcome back!' Can you demonstrate for me, Hinata-chan?"

"Oh um…w-welcome back," she said quietly, squirming uncomfortably as everyone's attention fell on her.

"Like I thought, so much cuter when you say it," Ino squealed, "anyways, then she'll already have a hot bath drawn for me and steaming ramen ready for my empty, starving stomach." With a dreamy smile, she propped her elbow onto the couch's armrest and rested her cheek on her palm.

"That does sound really nice…" Naruto voiced his thoughts out loud, eyes also locked on Hinata. The weight of his stare must have been heavier than he thought, for she looked up and met his gaze, curious bewilderment replacing her previous embarrassment. Naruto immediately flickered his eyes away. Only Shikamaru, who sat besides him, noticed the odd behavior.

"Okay!" Sakura intervened, hoping to prevent Hinata from fainting out of embarrassment. "Ino-pig, spin the bottle and let it be someone else's turn."

"Hey! She didn't answer the last one yet!" Kiba interjected.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but Ino merely shrugged. "Isn't it already obvious? Sai-kun, of course. The things I would do that boy−mmph!" She struggled to pry Sakura's hand off her mouth.

Sai perked up at the mention of his name.

"Really? It is me?" Honestly perplexed, he pointed a finger to himself and exchanged glances with Sakura. His pink-haired teammate nodded slowly, smiling dryly as Sai soaked in this 'new' information.

"Hey! What gives Billboard brow?" Ino demanded, finally yanking off Sakura's hand.

"Your sober self will thank me later," Sakura droned, "anyways, spin." The pink-haired girl pulled Ino's arm towards the empty bottle on the floor. After a few rotations, the bottle innocently pointed at…Shikamaru.

"Leave me out of this game," the shadow-user stated.

"Shikamaruuuu," Ino whined; she reached over to tug on his sleeve.

"Troublesome woman…I don't want to be involved," he rejected again.

Unlatching her hands, she straightened up and folded her arms beneath her chest. "Fine," she clipped, leaning towards the bottle and spinning it again.

Shikamaru inwardly groaned. He knew that tone of hers very well.

Little did he know that his suspicions would be answered sooner than he thought.

"Yes!" Ino pumped her fist into the air. "Chouji, you're up!"

"Oh me?" He finished munching on his potato chip and swallowed. "Alright, lay a dare on me."

"Lick barbeque sauce off of Shikamaru," Ino instantly replied.

Shikamaru heaved a groan, eyebrows rising towards his hairline. "That is disgusting. Chouji−"

"What part of him."

A thoughtful look replaced Ino's pleased expression. "Hm…just somewhere off his face." She opened her palm as Lee returned from the kitchen with a bottle of barbeque sauce.

"I definitely do not agree to this," Shikamaru flatly said.

"Even if you're not part of the game, Chouji still is," Ino rationalized with a wink.

Before Shikamaru could refute, something very cold and _sticky _splattered onto his chin, followed by a large shadow looming over him. "Oi, get off of me." Shikamaru attempted to shove his best friend away from him.

"Sorry Shikamaru, a dare's a dare. It'll only take a second," Chouji said apologetically, as he hovered closer Shikamaru could smell the distinct bitterness of alcohol on his breath.

Giggles and chuckles chorused around the room as Chouji's tongue took a generous swipe across Shikamaru's chin.

"Ergh," Shikamaru wiped off the remainder of the barbeque sauce and Chouji's saliva with the back of his hand. "That settles it. I'm going to grow facial hair so that never happens again." He turned his glare onto Ino who looked entirely too entertained. "Are you happy now?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yes. Very," Ino grinned. "Oh come on, it totally could have been worse," she teased.

"Why did I even come here…" He grumbled, making sure to be audible enough for Ino's ears.

Chouji spun the bottle with minimal force, ready to return to his beloved bag of chips. The bottle slowed to a stop at its next victim, Naruto.

Naruto grinned, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Yosh! It's my turn now. What will it be Chouji? Run laps around the village? Prank call someone? Eat Sakura-chan's awful cooking?"

"HEY!" A magazine expertly aimed at Naruto's head soon followed her outburst.

"Hmm…" Chouji hummed lowly. "Let's just do something simple. How about you kiss someone in this room, someone you like," he casually offered, unaware that he had lit the wire to a dynamite bomb.

"Alright! Kiss someone in this room! Wait…" Naruto paled. The warm anticipation that had been rolling through his body became cold unease. He gulped thickly, fidgeting with his fingers.

Sensing his discomfort, Chouji spoke again, "I can just give you another dare, if you want."

"Y-Yeah, can you−"

"Nope," Ino cut off suddenly, "A dare's a dare right? Besides," she turned to Naruto with a strangely sober, and strangely knowing stare. "You're getting another chance."

"Um…okay, I…" He trailed off. Unsure what to do, he turned to the person next to him, Shikamaru, and looked at him like he was the answer key to an exam.

Shikamaru sighed, pushing himself up to stand. Without a word, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed towards the kitchen.

Well, that was no help. Naruto bit his lip. It was just a stupid game, but his rapidly beating heart told him otherwise. The person who had been popping up in his mind for the past few days, weeks, _months, _surfaced to mind. Long dark hair, gentle pale eyes, a warm aura that perpetually radiated kindness. Naruto squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

_Just do it already, _a voice inside his head nagged. _It's not a big deal. You would have pounced on any chance to get your lips near Sakura back in the day, what's the difference now? _

He didn't know. He couldn't answer what the difference was. He…couldn't figure it out here, with everyone watching and expecting a show. No. She deserved far more than that, far more than a haphazard lip-on-lip contact where he didn't know what he was doing. He wanted to tell her his feelings himself. He _needed_ this to be his own decision. No pressure of everyone's expectations, no being told what to do, just his heart−exposed, vulnerable, and honest.

His heart thumped against his ribcage; sweat accumulating in the creases between his fingers.

_I can't do it, not right now, _he realized miserably, sinking as deeply as possible into the floor. Maybe he could turn this around into a humorous situation, after all, making people laugh at him had always saved him in the past. His eyes automatically darted to Sakura. She would slap him, pummel him to the ground, and then that would be the end of it.

He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't the absolutely horrified expression that drained the color from her skin. She dropped eye contact with him the second he looked at her and anxiously watched someone across the room. Naruto was in the midst of tracing her line of vision when Sasuke appeared next to him.

"Naruto," Sasuke said lowly. "You are taking too long," he announced impatiently, as if explaining something to a child.

"What are you−" He began, but the words died on his lips as he followed Sasuke's furtive glance.

Hinata had taken an intense interest in plucking at a loose string of carpet. She refused to look at him. No, wait…she refused to look at _anyone_. Actually, now that he observed the room, no one was looking at him…but rather _her_.

Why did they all look so…worried?

"Wait, is this dare still for me?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Everyone heaved a collective sigh.

"Yes, Naruto, still for you," Tenten broke the silence. "Have you chosen someone to kiss−oh, did you choose Sasuke?" Her eyebrows waggled suggestively.

The reaction was immediate, Naruto scrunched up his nose in disgust while Sasuke flat out blanched, setting his lips in a hard frown.

"_No_," they simultaneously answered.

"Aw," Sakura pouted, "I'd actually pay good money to see that again. Naruto should be out of the picture though, it should be Sasuke-kun with maybe someone else…" Her gaze slid discreetly towards her other dark-haired, oblivious teammate.

"Oi, Sakura. Stop…that," Sasuke grumbled. Unfortunately for him, he had a good idea of what fantasies Sakura weaved in her head.

Shuffling footsteps came to a stop a meter away from Naruto. "So I take it you haven't chosen anyone while I left, am I right Naruto?" A bored voice drawled.

Naruto turned towards the boy plopping down beside him, an ice cold drink in one hand. "Shikamaru? Where'd you go?"

"Just answer the question," he said.

"No, I didn't," Naruto replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay then."

An unopened can of beer appeared beneath his nose. Naruto tilted his head, but automatically accepted the beverage.

"Drink this. We're changing the rules of this game. It's now Dare or Drink," Shikamaru stated, channeling an authority that he seldom used outside of leading missions.

"Shikamaru! You can't just change the game like that!" Ino protested. Leaning towards her teammate, she swayed slightly as her body refused to stay straight.

"Yes I can, I just did. It's still in line with your normal 'fun party antics' so there shouldn't be a problem."

Ino huffed, blowing her long bangs out of her eyes. "Fine, whatever."

As Naruto popped open the cap, he shot Shikamaru a grateful, if not a little embarrassed, smile. Shikamaru nodded in return, but he had a feeling the hole he dug for himself could only get deeper.

A few rounds went by without much of a hitch: Lee ran three laps around Konoha clad solely in his underwear, Kiba found himself encased in a buzzing bug cocoon when his dare to steal Shino's glasses went awry, and Sakura practically inhaled her drink when dared to prank call Gaara.

It seemed that Naruto's awkward disaster of a dare would soon be swept neatly under the rug. That was, until the bottle swiveled to a stop at Hinata.

Ino clapped her hands once and lolled her head back, thrusting her arms in the air. "Yes finally! I'm going to dare you Hinata-chan!"

Hinata tried to match her enthusiasm with a smile, but her eyes shimmered with apprehension.

"Ino-san, it's not your turn to pick a youthful−"

"Can it Lee!" Ino chirped gleefully. "Okay Hinata-chan! I'm going to give you the same dare that Naruto screwed up on, kiss someone you like in this room!"

"Oi, Ino," Sakura hissed, dragging Ino's ear towards her. "Are you crazy? What are you doing giving her a dare like that? You're drunk."

"Billboard brow, have some faith in me. I've got a plan! I know she's going to say no, so at least she'll drink a little and loosen up," Ino whispered, but her voice carried loudly enough to be heard throughout the entire room.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "At least make it a cheek kiss."

Shikamaru sighed a long, deep breath, emptying his lungs as much as possible. Naruto peered at him curiously.

"What's wrong Shikamaru?" Naruto asked distantly, distracting himself from the butterflies that had suddenly taken roost in his stomach.

Shikamaru stood up, massaging one tense shoulder with the opposing arm. "Nothing…I'll be right back." He briefly disappeared into the kitchen, and then moved to the other side of the circle, stooping behind Hinata.

"Hey, Hinata." Shikamaru prodded her arm. "Ino's…drunk," he blatantly informed, "she will apologize to you tomorrow, but for now just drink this."

She craned her neck towards him, surprise painting her face at seeing him, but nevertheless kept her hands fisted in the fabric of her dress.

Shikamaru studied her, especially at how she eyed the full glass of gin in his hands nervously.

"Ah, it's too much," he observed. He tipped the glass to his own lips and downed half of it, wincing as the liquid burned his throat and left an acrid aftertaste on his tongue. The ice tea chaser he brought with him begged to cleanse his palette, but he shoved down those temptations and poured it into the leftover half-glass of gin. Shikamaru offered the new concoction to Hinata.

Her eyes stared at the caramel-brown drink before meeting Shikamaru's dark eyes.

"Shikamaru-kun, why are you trying to help me?" She inquired softly, still not accepting the drink.

Shikamaru shrugged, feeling himself redden either from the alcohol, her open question, or a combination of both. "I don't know, I guess it's because I understand how you don't like attracting attention. How you don't like to be noticed."

It didn't seem to be the right thing to say. Her eyelids lowered and shoulders slumped. "But Shikamaru-kun, you _are_ noticed a lot. Everyone acknowledges you." Hinata took a deep breath and straightened her posture, determination entering her eyes. "Thank you for your concern Shikamaru-kun, but I choose to accept the dare."

"What are you−?"

"I accept the dare," she declared, lifting her head high.

As if on command, everyone gawked at her, jaws plunging open. Naruto's heart accelerated into overdrive, and imagined her soft lips pressing into his. He flicked his tongue over his chapped lips. If Hinata chose to kiss him, he definitely wouldn't mind. In fact, he found himself excited, almost giddy for it. It didn't really make sense− why he didn't feel ready to kiss her yet had no problem if she wanted to kiss him. The only thing was that, Hinata never looked at him. He might as well have been part of the background as a rock, an _invisible_ rock.

"On one condition," she continued, voice clear and unyielding, "I have my own dare for all of you."

No one uttered a sound, so she took it as a cue to continue. "I dare all of you…to leave Naruto-kun's feelings alone. Don't pressure him into feeling things…that are clearly not there, please."

She looked up at him then, and that sad, painful smile had returned. Pale eyes crinkled gently at him, and gazed at him with the kind of tenderness that was attached to a parting farewell. It was better to be an invisible rock.

_No, _he wanted to counter. _That's not right. I do feel something for you_−_something warm and fuzzy and burning and I want to burst with how much I want to protect you with my life. _But his mouth said nothing, and he wished that she hit him, slapped him, something, anything. Because her closure and resolution hurt him more than any pain ever inflicted on him.

"Is that okay? Everyone?" Hinata probed when no one answered her.

"Yes," Ino confirmed; suddenly sober as a dry desert. She cast her full attention on Hinata. "If that's what you really want, Hinata-chan. We accept your dare." Her sky blue eyes held a glassy sheen to them.

"Alright then," she agreed. Turning to her side, she placed both hands on Shino's face and gently yanked him down, kissing him on the side of his mouth.

It hurt him a lot more than he thought possible, as if someone had taken a serrated knife and severed his heart strings. Hinata had never hurt him before, she had only encouraged and supported him. He had taken her unwavering loyalty for him as part of her, and evidently, for granted.

"There you go," she said happily. "The dare was to kiss someone I liked, and I like my teammates a lot." She smiled at Shino's beet-red face. "Shino-kun, I wouldn't want you to die, honest. So please don't be sad over people not noticing you."

The room froze, everyone slack jawed in stunned silence. That was, until Kiba sputtered out words that resembled noises more than sentences.

"H-Hey Hinata! I'm part of Team 8 too, how come you chose Shino," Kiba whined.

Hinata curled her lip, but relented. "Oh fine," She leaned over and pecked Kiba on the cheek.

What was this? Was she going to kiss everyone in the room? He sulked silently, turning to his best friend in hope for some solace.

Sasuke didn't meet his gaze, and he appeared unsurprised by the turn of the events. "Like I said, it's completely your fault," he reminded helpfully.

Naruto looked down at his hands in his lap, a smoking hole pierced where his heart used to be. He toyed with the loose bandage on his prosthetic arm. For once…he had to agree. The last sands in his hourglass slipped to the bottom.

He was too pre-occupied by the dull ache throbbing through his chest to notice that Hinata had plucked the drink still in Shikamaru's hand and downed it in one shot.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

**Author's Note: **Very tricky chapter to write, lots of sections needed to be re-written several times. This chapter also wanted to get longer and longer! (Is long good? Yes/No?) Please let me know what you think about everything, the next few chapters will be getting more NaruHina focus.


	8. Naruto's Resolve: Dreams & Reality

x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto's Resolve: When Dreams &amp; Reality Embrace

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

Bricks, lead pipes, everything and anything _heavy_ piled in his head, pushing against the inner walls of his skull and spilling out as pounding through his ears. His heart already felt sucker-punched, might as well knock out his brain too. He groaned, feebly attempting to lift his head up.

"It seems that I underestimated the effects of the Kyuubi's healing…" A monotonous voice droned.

Naruto managed to twist his neck to the side and flop onto his cheek.

"Shino…? What the hell happened? Why is it so quiet?"

"I put everyone to sleep," he explained casually, as if making people fall unconscious was a daily part of Shino's life.

"You _what_?" Naruto screeched, regretting it immediately as his own voice shot a sharp pain through his head.

"It was getting…chaotic," Shino said calmly, "because my insects can digest all the alcohol for me, I always have to play chaperone for all of you."

"How did you…"

"One of my bugs can secrete a powder with sedative properties. I simply requested my bugs to spread it to your drinks."

"You _drugged_ all of us?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I believe the correct term is tranquilized. Because−"

"You _tranquilized_ all of us?!"

"Not all of you," Shino clarified, "some of you passed out on your own." He gestured to the seat next to him where Kiba−who was slumped down on the counter table− laid in a puddle of his own drool.

"Shino, you're so scary…" Naruto groaned as a fresh wave of pain thumped his brain. "So what happened? How'd I get so smashed?"

"Dare or Drink ended after Hinata's turn. You then challenged Uchiha to a drinking contest and pestered him until he accepted," Shino supplied. He lifted his chin towards Sasuke who leaned back stiffly in a chair, eyes closed and mouth ajar.

"Oh…" Vague memories of tailing Sasuke around and egging him on surfaced up. Before he could bombard Shino with more questions, the boy stood up and walked to the other side of Naruto. With almost no perceptible movement, he shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over a shivering, trembling body: Hinata's.

Naruto pressed his arms against the table and struggled to push his head up. "Hinata…got drunk?"

"Yes," Shino acknowledged.

"Oh…that's weird, I've never seen her drink before." Naruto tilted his head, leaning forward slightly.

"That's because she doesn't. Tonight's circumstances, however, pushed her to do so."

Shino situated his jacket higher on her body, making sure to shield her shoulders. Naruto didn't know if it was Shino's blunt words or ironically, his considerate gesture, but either way he soured at seeing the two of them together.

"Are you two going to date now?" He bit out, unable to keep the bitterness out of his tone.

Shino regarded him carefully, as if holding his tongue. "No. She does not hold romantic feelings for me," he decided on saying.

"Oh really," Naruto dully said.

The bug-user knitted his eyebrows together. "Naruto, you have no right to be jealous."

"I'm not…" He weakly denied.

Shino ignored him and continued, "Because you had many opportunities presented to you, and your continuous _lack_ of action has spoken volumes."

"What do ya mean?" Frustration edged into his words.

"For one, you never responded to her confession. Even Hinata has limits to her patience."

"Oh…that," Naruto murmured, guilt sprinkling onto his chest.

Dissatisfied, and more than a little irritated at his casual dismissal, Shino fixed Naruto with a glare that penetrated through his lenses. "Do not take her emotions lightly. Hinata is always looking out for you, thinking about you, _caring_ about you. Do not disregard her."

"I would never!" Naruto snapped back, bristling and matching Shino's glare with one of his own. "I would never do anything to hurt her!"

"Oh really?" Shino said, in a manner that neither sounded sarcastic nor fake. It only infuriated Naruto more that Shino truly didn't believe him. "Then why did you not kiss her during your turn?"

"That's because…I don't know, I didn't feel ready," Naruto sighed. "When it comes down to it, I'm still a big idiot about this sort of stuff."

Shino nodded, not refuting his claim. "But I thought that you had experience in loving Sakura. You were going to kiss Sakura, were you not? That is, until Shikamaru adjusted the rules to the game."

"What? What makes you think that?" He blurted out incredulously.

Raising an eyebrow, Shino elaborated, "Sakura is the only person you looked at, besides Uchiha I suppose."

"Oh, I mean, that's 'cause I knew Sakura-chan would just beat me up. And it'd be funny, you know, comedy in an awkward situation," he barked out one, dry laugh.

"I doubt that Hinata interpreted it that way. She never treats you as a joke," Shino said. Walking back to the barstool next to Naruto, he slid into his seat. "Naruto, no one will hold it against you if you do not choose to return Hinata's feelings. Believe it or not, all of us wish for you to be happy as well," Shino paused, "no never mind, some people will hold it against you. But not Hinata, and her opinion is the only one that truly matters."

Naruto turned towards the girl beside him. She slumbered peacefully beside him, arms folded on the counter and serving as a pillow for her head. "Hinata…" he called her name tenderly, sweeping a long bang behind her ears.

He pressed his thumb against his temples and buried his face into his hands. The bags under his eyes bulged larger than ever, tired eyes sunken in their sockets. "I-It's not… that I don't return her feelings. I just don't know what to make of them. Shino, is it true? Does she love me? Does she really?"

"Yes," Shino frankly answered.

"'How? Why?" More questions wanted to escape out of his thudding mind, but at the moment, this was the best he could muster.

"Naruto," Shino lowered his voice to a deep baritone. "This entire time, you've been looking at your predicament the wrong way."

"Huh?"

"You've only been thinking about what _you_ feel. How you should interpret her feelings, how you feel yourself, how you think romance ought to be. Has it ever occurred to you that, love comes in many forms? Hinata may be shy about expressing her love, but that doesn't diminish its strength," Shino said slowly, making a point to keep his words simple and clean.

"Try seeing things from her perspective. Hinata grew up as someone who hated herself everyday. She accepted, _believed_ in those labels of being useless as truth until she… gained inspiration from you. Then, she spent her entire life watching you harbor feelings for someone else. You talked about your crush on Sakura to anyone willing to listen, yet now you won't spend a little bit of time addressing Hinata's confession. For someone she cares so much about to ignore her…it is no wonder that she considers herself a consolation prize."

"Hey, whoa, stop right there," Naruto interrupted, holding a hand up. "A consolation prize? No way, you've got to be kidding me. Actually, she's not a prize at all! Hinata's a person! A person who means the absolute world to me," he confessed earnestly, his eyes glazing over as he looked back at Hinata's sleeping form.

Shino nodded, a ghost of a smile flashing on his lips. "Answer accepted. But you shouldn't be telling this to me."

Chuckling nervously, Naruto clasped his hands together and twiddled his thumbs. "You're right. About everything. I've been…selfish. There's still so many questions spinning in my head, sometimes I feel like I'm gonna explode."

"Then go find the answers to them," Shino all but ordered. "It's a simple solution to your complicated situation. What? You think all the answers are going to fall in your lap? You must conduct research, and more importantly consider_ her _feelings."

Naruto remained silent for a few beats, but he stilled in fidgeting with his hands. "You…Shino. You're right, I−"

"Hinataaa! Pick the giant bunny it's totally your style! Aww you're going to give me the dog? Ya really mean it? You insist? Yahoo!" Kiba snored loudly, entering the conversation like a pile of rocks tumbling down a cliff.

"He is in his drunk sleep-talking phase," Shino explained, furrowing his brow. "This is not good, he will not be sober enough to return home anytime soon."

"Hey." Naruto rolled his body closer to Shino's and poked the stoic boy's bicep several times. "Let me bring Hinata back to her house, it's the least I could do. Your hands are gonna be full with Kiba."

"What about your teammates."

"Eh, they'll be fine. The teme will wake up soon and then he'll make sure Sakura-chan gets home safely. For Sai…I don't think he'd mind staying here."

Shino turned towards Naruto, his black glasses meeting him squarely in the eye.

"No," he deadpanned.

"What! Come on Shino, what gives?" Naruto complained.

"I am not certain if you can take care of her−" He abruptly cut himself off, shutting his mouth closed.

"I promise you that I will take care of her. It's a promise of a life time. And you know that I'm a man who never goes back on his word." Naruto placed both of his palms flat on the table, unwavering, fiery determination in his eyes.

Shino considered him cautiously. He couldn't help that he remained wary, but…

"Shinooo. What's behind your glasses? Do you even have eyes? Are there just gonna be bugs in there? Are you gonna be banned from more goldfish booths?" Boisterous laughter howled into his ears.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "However, I'm holding you to your words." The threatening undertone didn't go unnoticed, and neither did the tiniest twinge of…sadness that hollowed Shino's words.

But maybe Naruto just imagined it.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The night air was brisk and dry− every now and then, browning leaves would sail to the ground and his feet would automatically move to step on the crisp foliage. Looks like autumn had finally settled in. Naruto wasn't cold, however, far from it. Hinata's body radiated warmth as she lay draped like a blanket on his back.

"Let's see… Hyūga compound, Hyūga compound…where are you…" His feet shuffled to a stop. Small tree on the left looked sort of familiar, so did broken pavement on the ground and average stone bench. Ah huh. Therefore, in conclusion…he still had no idea where to go.

"Damn it," Naruto added some more choice words under his breath. "Shino's definitely gonna kick my ass…"

On top of him, Hinata stirred, shifting around. "Mm…let me down," she murmured.

"No can do, I've got to get you home safely," Naruto replied gently.

Hinata shook her head into his back, her hair tickling his neck. "I need to…let me down."

This time, Naruto surrendered, allowing Hinata to slip off his back. He tried to steady her as her feet touched the ground, but she broke out of his grasp. She teetered towards the side of the road, and leaning her head forward, vomited into a grassy ditch. Naruto rushed to pull her hair back, then pat her back in soothing circles as she continued to retch out yellow-brown, semi-solid puke.

When she finished, she sunk down into a squat, dropping her head into her knees.

"Hey…Hinata, let's move away from here," Naruto encouraged, tugging lightly on her arms.

She didn't respond, and Naruto couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the acerbic odor of her splattered vomit.

"Hinata…" Forgoing trying to rouse her, Naruto moved to scoop her up in his arms. But he stopped in his movements when she suddenly snapped her head up.

"Naruto-kun…?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

Pale eyes narrowed, and she scowled at him with a burning, irate expression that he had _never_ witnessed on her face before. "Ugh, why are you still here," she stated, forcing herself to her feet.

"Hinata?" Naruto called, flabbergasted at her cold reaction.

Pointedly ignoring him, she continued to stalk away, wobbling slightly on her feet.

"Hey!" He ran after her, catching her right before she stumbled on loose pavement.

"Mmm…" Hinata wormed out of his arms and collapsed to the ground. Her legs folded on top of each other and she leaned to the side, one arm supporting her weight.

Naruto kneeled down in front of her, placing his hand on her chin to try to get her to look at him. "Hinata? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She echoed the words. "What's wrong is, why are you still showing up Dream-Naruto-kun? How am I going to get over you like this?"

"Dream-Naruto? No I'm the real thing!" Picking up her free hand, he moved her index finger to poke his cheeks, skating along the ridges of his whisker marks. "See, totally real!"

Hinata merely blinked. "My imagination is getting good at this…"

"That's 'cause I'm not your imagination!" Naruto insisted.

Giggling, Hinata placed her hand over her mouth. "Of course you are, this is nothing but a dream. A silly fantasy that I created. Hm. I wonder if Neji-nii-san and Hanabi-chan are spying on us somewhere," she whipped her head back and forth, but abruptly stopped, clutching onto her head as the world spun around her. Naruto placed his hand securely against the back of her head.

Deciding to just humor her, Naruto also pretended to scan the perimeter. "Hmm…looks like they're not here, so let's quickly get back to the Hyūga compound before they start to worry about you." He bent down on one knee, back facing her, and motioned for her to climb on.

Hinata frowned. "No."

"Aw, come on, please?"

"No," Hinata repeated. "Since you are a figment of my imagination, I will simply fall through."

Naruto shook his head from side to side. "That won't happen, I promise."

"I do not believe you."

"Well then." Naruto turned around and placed one arm behind her back, and the other beneath her knees. He scooped her up in one fluid motion. "Looks like we'll have to go with the alternative!"

She squeaked, blushing as red as a ripe strawberry. Ah, looks like some of her usual self had returned.

He couldn't help but burst into a smile. That was, until Hinata exhaled a resigned sigh. "Fine…Dream-Naruto-kun, you can stay for one more day. But I'm serious this time, after tonight, you've got to get out."

"And why is that? I like it in here!"

"Because," Hinata hesitated, but then figured it didn't matter since this was just Dream-Naruto. "Because I am absolutely certain now that the real Naruto-kun has no feelings for me. I can't keep hurting myself by allowing you to stay in my heart, Dream-Naruto-kun."

Naruto skidded to a stop like a halted train. Smile flipping into a frown, he met her eyes. "What makes you think that? The real Naruto didn't say he rejected your feelings, did he?"

"No…"

"And he's always nice to you, right? The real Naruto will always defend and protect you."

"All of that is true, Dream-Naruto-kun," she conceded.

"So why would you think he doesn't like you?" Naruto pressed on, sincerely curious.

"It's just…" Hinata squirmed under the intensity, the unwavering attention of his blue eyes, but didn't break eye contact. "Well, how do I put this." She put a finger to her chin.

"Say the real Naruto-kun has a day off, and he has a choice to use it between spending time with me, Sasuke-kun, or Konohamaru-kun. Who would he choose?"

"Umm…" Naruto puckered his lips. "To be honest just whoever he's in the mood to see. Most likely the one he hasn't seen for a while."

"Alright," Hinata nodded slowly…and continued to nod and nod. Naruto moved his arm higher up her back and squeezed her shoulder for her to stop.

"Okay then. What activity would he do with all of them?"

"Hm…" Naruto wracked his brain, but could only come up with the most basic answer. "I dunno. Probably train. Or eat ramen."

Hinata clapped her hands softly, a tight smile playing at her lips. "Bing-bong! Everyone will do exactly the same activity. You are correct, Dream-Naruto-kun."

"Huh? I don't get it," Naruto admitted, scrunching his face up in confusion.

"You see, Dream-Naruto-kun, there are many things important to the real Naruto-kun."

"Including you," Naruto affirmed.

"Yes, including me," Hinata agreed. She broke eye contact, and instead lifted her head towards the starry sky. "However, these important things are all equal to the real Naruto-kun. It's as if every person he knows is a shimmering star, they all brighten up his life in some way. But, they also all look pretty much…the same."

"I know that even Dream-Naruto-kun gets easily confused, so I'll explain it again. Everything is of equal importance to the real Naruto-kun, and I, Hyūga Hinata, hold absolutely no priority."

"_All I'm saying is that you're not doing anything special." _Sasuke's riddle suddenly held new meaning.

Naruto clutched onto Hinata a little tighter, relishing how soft her upper arm felt against his hands. "Hey…that's not true," he tried to refute.

"It's not a bad thing," Hinata continued, "It's actually just another thing I cherish about Naruto-kun. He values everyone so, so much. He wants to stretch himself so far, like he's made out of rubber, and give everyone little pieces of himself. The problem is simply…me." Cupping her chin with both of her palms, she sighed. "I'm acting selfish by wanting more of the little free time he has. No. It's even more selfish than that, I want…a little more of his heart. For him to choose to spend a day with me over Sasuke-kun, Konohamaru-kun, or…Sakura-san," she added reluctantly.

Naruto pondered over her words. An answer bypassed his brain and jumped to his lips.

"You know, if it's more of my heart that you want, I'll give you the whole thing," he blurted out.

To his surprise, Hinata released a peal of laughter. "Dream-Naruto-kun, that was incredibly out of character for you to say. My subconscious needs to work on its characterization."

Naruto didn't share her humor. "Hinata, I'm confused. So you don't…actually want my heart?"

"Of course I do," she replied. "However, I'm telling you to save it. It looks like Sasuke-kun accepts Sakura-san's feelings and is struggling to express his own."

"What are you−"

"So your window to chase after Sakura-san is closing fast, unless you act soon, such as now," Hinata pouted at Naruto for his rude interruption. "Although, I know you're much too kind-hearted to interfere with them."

"No, Hinata…stop."

"Fortunately for you, you have so many fans and admirers now…I'm sure that one of them is bound to have the qualities that you liked about Sakura-san. You have the entire village, maybe even the entire world to choose from."

"Where are you even getting all of this? It isn't like that. All of this is in your head."

"Well of course it is. We are in my dream right now, aren't we?" Hinata reminded.

"Hinata, you have all these great qualities that I like about you. You're strong, brave, super pretty−seriously, you're absolutely gorgeous− and you're the nicest person I've ever met. Yeah you're shy and quiet, which is different from Sakura, but so what? I don't care! Shy and quiet is _cute_ and totally _awesome_, because that's who you are and _you_ are totally awesome."

Naruto exhaled, suddenly realizing that he had been panting. When did he get so worked up?

Hinata didn't say anything.

"…Hinata?" Naruto lightly jiggled her arm. "Did ya hear me?"

Still nothing.

"Hinata?" He tried again, more quietly and more gently this time.

When there was no response, Naruto ducked his head down and squinted to see her face through her curtain of hair. Soft sniffles emerged, and she hastily swiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Ah! Hinata what's wrong?" Naruto lowered her to her feet and rushed to brush her hair out of her eyes.

"N-Nothing, nothing at all." Hinata continued to sniffle, but also started laughing, a bitter, stifled laugh that ended in a sharp intake of breath. "It's just…why would you go and say something like that, Dream-Naruto-kun? You're making it really, really difficult to let go." Her hands tentatively neared his torso. Reflexively, he opened his arms to the side, giving her room to wrap her arms around him and press into his chest.

"You're really warm, Dream-Naruto-kun," she murmured into his jacket. "I wish we could stay like this for a little while longer. Just a little, please? Then I'll set you free."

Naruto returned the hug, embracing her protectively. Hinata's body molded nicely, practically perfectly, against his own. "It's okay," he reassured. "I don't want to go anywhere," he whispered into her hair.

He could feel her smile against his chest. Naruto's heart swirled with emotion and bewilderment and _warmth, _a really nice, warmth that invaded his chest as she snuggled closer to him. He could now add another thing he knew for certain: Hinata harbored a very, very _wrong _perception of herself; he had a dark inkling that he may have innocently, and insensitively, played a part in it.

Had he been...hurting her? No…how _long_ had he been hurting her?

His chest pinched, and his throat constricted. He was a bigger idiot than he thought.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Blankets tucked snugly under her chin, head tilted so her cheek rested on his pillow, and trashcan ready below her in case she had the urge to vomit again.

Tomorrow, he would have to face the wrath of both her father and teammates…especially Shino. Shino was scary.

It was okay though. He'd take the blame. After all, everything could be traced back to being completely his fault.

Naruto quietly padded to the kitchen and rummaged through his cabinets for some aspirin, knowing that she would probably have a wicked hangover the next morning. He then poured a glass of filtered water from the sink and set the medicine and water on the bedside table.

It still didn't feel sufficient.

Because it wasn't.

He returned back to the kitchen and fumbled through his cabinets: Ramen…ramen…more ramen, fiber bars, oh, azuki beans! He could make red bean soup, soup was good for hangovers right?

Measuring out two cups of azuki beans, he poured them into a large container of water to soak, rattling like shiny pebbles as they plopped into the water. Then, he procured another pot, dumping several cups of water into it before placing it on the stove to boil. While he waited for the food to prepare, he delved through a drawer for a pen and paper.

_Hi Hinata! I hope you're feeling better this morning! I made some red bean soup for you in the kitchen, just reheat it and it's good to eat. Make yourself at home! Feel free to take a shower or brush your teeth, there's an extra toothbrush in the drawer. Not that you need to shower or brush your teeth, you always smell nice! Except yesterday you sorta threw up in the grass so maybe you'd…you know this note is becoming a big mess...Anyways, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find your house last night…actually I'm sorry for a lot of things. I think that I _

Naruto straightened up, crumpling the train-wreck of a note in his hand and tossing it into the wastebasket. Nope. No good.

He re-wrote the note, attempting to make his messy scrawl more legible:

_Hi Hinata! I hope you're feeling better this morning! I cooked some red bean soup for you in the kitchen, just reheat it and it's good to go. Make yourself at home! I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. There's something I needed to do…something super duper important. _

_-Naruto_

Better, he thought to himself.

As the water came to a boil, Naruto poured the softened beans into the pot and tended to the soup for half an hour, using a spoon to ladle out the foamy residue. After that, he changed the stove controls to a simmer and alternated between adding water and skimming the foam until he felt satisfied with the consistency. Finishing up with heaping amounts of sugar and pinches of salt, he tasted his own concoction.

He didn't think he was an expert chef, but nonetheless, he smiled in satisfaction.

Naruto turned off the stovetop and placed the lid over his soup. Retrieving his note, he returned back to his bedroom. Hinata breathed evenly under the mountain of his blankets, bundled up like a rabbit burrowed in her nest.

_What a cute, adorable creature, _he dreamily mused. He leaned over and parted her hair behind her back so it didn't cascade over her face. Would she remember anything when she sobered up in the morning? ...Would she even still like him?

Naruto arranged the glass of water, aspirin, and note in a neat line− organized more meticulously than anything in his life− and picked his jacket off the chair he threw it on earlier.

He walked backwards towards the door, ignoring the temptation to run back in and stay put by her side. Tonight had only illuminated to him that he still had much, much to learn.

Hinata had been patient for long enough.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

**Author's Note:** I've been waiting to write Chapter 8 since Chapter 1. Inspired by my own drunken friend, who emotionally, and with an abundance of tears, blurted out how much she loved her friends and would travel to the moon and back for them. Then, she promptly passed out. Forgot everything that happened the next morning. Thank you to everyone for all the reviews! (Special thanks to **Usa-chan, Calliecature, jojo07, Mists, SpiceyWifey, and hqhqhq**, for your constant support, sorry if I missed anyone.) I'm so pleasantly surprised with the attention this story is garnering.


	9. Shikamaru's Enlistment: That Important?

x-x-x-x-x-x

Shikamaru's Enlistment: Is This Really that Important to You?

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

Frantic rapping pounded against his door. Stifling a groan, he slammed the pillow over his head. Stay quiet. Don't make any noise. The person would soon give up and leave.

"Shikamaru!" A familiar voice hollered his name. "Hey! I know you're in there! C'mon open up!"

Not a sound, Shikamaru. You're still in very, very deep sleep. The house could be burning down, flames licking at your feet, and you'd still be fast asleep.

"Shikamaru! Pleaseeeeee," the unwanted guest whined. It was so off-key; he didn't even have to decency to whine on tune.

A low growl emitted from the back of his throat. He hated all mornings. If it were up to him, all days would begin past 12 PM. His raging hangover certainly didn't improve his rapidly thinning patience.

"Come on Shikamaru I'm beggin' you here." A beat of silence lulled in the air; the desperate knocking ceased. Then softly this time, in a hoarse, cracking whisper, the person implored, "Please, I really need your help."

Oh for the love of– Shikamaru sighed a long, heaving sigh. He seemed to be doing that much more frequently these days. His body rolled to the side.

This was so, so troublesome. As if he was on autopilot, albeit a very rusted and sluggish autopilot in desperate need of an oiling, Shikamaru stumbled towards the door.

He missed grabbing the handle a few times, but eventually managed to jerk it open.

"Naruto," the name rolled off of Shikamaru's tongue in slow, fragmented syllables. "What could you possibly want?" Each word punctuated the throbbing in his head and he wanted nothing more than to collapse back into bed.

"Shikamaru!" The blond immediately brightened. "I need advice!"

"It can wait until later. Much later. Goodbye Naruto." Shikamaru moved to slam the door shut, but Naruto's arm quickly snaked through the crack.

"Ow!" He yelped. "No! It can't wait until later!"

Shikamaru rubbed at his eyes. "Okay Naruto. I'm very, _very_ hungover right now. Seriously, it's a huge drag. I have no idea what time it is but I know it's _early_. I would tell you to come back later, but honestly, don't. I'll still be passed out then."

"Shikamaru please! At least hear me out. I'll never ever ask for another favor from you again," Naruto asserted.

Although Shikamaru highly doubted the validity of his claim, a faint curiosity edged him on.

"Fine. What is it?" He grit out.

"I need you to teach me what romantic love is!"

Shikamaru blinked. He rubbed his eyes again, this time rolling out the sleep dust, and then dragged his fingers down his face. "I must still be dreaming."

"No! I'm the real thing," Naruto insisted, pulling Shikamaru's hand and tracing it over his whisker marks.

"Hah…?" Shikamaru's mouth dropped open. "If it's not a dream, then you must not be the real Naruto."

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms across his chest. "Hey! I'm the one and only Uzumaki Naruto and don't you forget it!"

"Ugh," Shikamaru slapped his palm against his forehead, "fine, then say something that only the real Naruto would know."

The blond paused, twisting his lips into a frown. "Okay I got one. Back in our academy days, _you _ate Chouji's last potato chip and blamed it on Akamaru. Chouji and Kiba argued the whole week about it! In the end, you felt so bad about it that you bought Chouji another bag of chips and said it was from Kiba."

"First of all, I did _not_ blame Akamaru. Chouji created his own assumptions and I just…didn't correct him. Second of all," Shikamaru groaned, "that means you _are_ the real Naruto. Why the hell are you requesting something so ridiculous?"

"I need to learn about it! It's super duper important that I do," Naruto cried, causing Shikamaru to cringe as his voice cut like little knives stabbing into his skull.

"Okay, that's great. But I am definitely the _wrong_ person to ask for this stuff and I wish you luck in finding someone else. Good bye." Shikamaru moved to shut the door again.

"Wait!" Naruto protested, but this time he didn't thrust out his hand to stop the door.

The door clicked into place and Shikamaru pressed his back against the frame. He grumbled to himself before muttering, "Go find Sakura or Ino. Or anyone else that isn't me."

"But you're the smartest person I know!"

"Not in this particular area, I assure you," Shikamaru drawled.

"That's not true! You're the closest one out of all of us to have a girlfriend."

For some suspicious reason, the back of his neck warmed, but Shikamaru neutrally replied, "Nope. Don't know who you could possibly be talking about."

"What? Tema–"

"Good night, Naruto," Shikamaru intercepted, "I'm going back to sleep."

He trudged the short distance to his bed and flopped face-first onto his mattress. One, solid thump echoed from his door.

"I'm sorry…for waking you up. I guess I'm just being selfish again. To you this time."

Shikamaru didn't make a sound, but suddenly, the bed didn't feel quite as warm and cozy.

"It's just that…I screwed up again. Nothing new," Naruto chuckled dryly, "though this time, I'm not sure how to fix it."

Silence lapsed between them. Memories from last night flashed to Shikamaru's mind, and he pieced together a vague story. The muscles in his back twitched. Even though his hangover pounded on, Shikamaru's mind refused to turn off.

When the door shook from Naruto's weight being removed, Shikamaru's traitorous mind conducted a quick analysis. His alarm would go off sometime. Maybe not soon, but still sometime eventually. Then, Shikamaru would have to lug his body up anyways to turn off the stupid thing and stop its damn ringing. This entire process of planning the future was already so troublesome, so…he might as well get up now to turn off his alarm and save him effort in the long run. It would only be a coincidence if he happened to open the door too.

Shikamaru pulled himself up and burst open the door with more enthusiasm than it made sense to. Naruto jolted, nearly losing his balance on the hand railing he leaned against. The blond whirled around in a split second, his surprise morphing into a cheerful beam.

"Shikamaru!" He exclaimed.

The dark-haired boy in question sighed. "You are so troublesome." His fingers tapped against the door handle he still clutched onto. "Is this…learning about romantic love thing really that important to you?"

"Yes," the answer came instantly, sincerity lathering his affirmation. Blue eyes flared in determination.

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. He only had a hazy idea of what was going on, but Naruto was serious. "Go wait downstairs on the couch. I need about 10 minutes to get ready."

"I'm on it!" Naruto chirped; acting far too chipper and eager compared to his usual disdain for mornings.

Shikamaru inclined his head towards Naruto, noticing that splotches of water dripped from the hem of his orange jacket.

"Oi. Why are you all…wet?"

"Oh man," Naruto hopped from one foot to the other. "Did I get water on your floor? It was raining earlier this morning, but I think it stopped now."

Earlier this morning? Did Naruto not sleep at all? Shikamaru leaned against the doorframe. He briefly closed his eyes; then flitted them open before he retreated into his room. After making some shuffling noises and muttering some choice phrases, he returned to the hallway. A black turtleneck dangled over his arm, and he held it out towards Naruto. "It wouldn't do either of us any good if you got sick," he felt compelled to explain.

Naruto's mouth fell open, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as a bright, grateful smile spread across his lips.

Yup. The hole that Shikamaru dug for himself was definitely going to get deeper.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"What…is this place?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I take it that you don't go here often."

"Konoha…Library? Is this place new?" Naruto inquired.

"Only if 'older than the both of us' is considered new," Shikamaru said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and tugging open the blue doors. "Come on, let's go."

They walked into the library–Naruto marveling at the towering shelves of books and neatly wrapped up scrolls–while Shikamaru lead them to a particular section.

"Wow! Who knew that libraries had so many _books_?" Naruto exclaimed, his nose crinkling as he sniffed a novel's aged paper.

"My hunch is…everyone in the village. Alright, we're here–Oi Naruto, stop looking at the ramen cookbooks and come here."

Heeding the command, Naruto set down the cookbook, eyes lingering on the glossy pages of a miso ramen bowl, and trotted towards Shikamaru. The blond shifted in a full 360 degree turn before frowning. "Hey…isn't this the children's section?" He motioned towards the bright book bindings and large-print titles.

"Yes," Shikamaru answered, tapping his finger against a black and yellow book. "Pick up this one."

Naruto's brow creased, but nevertheless he did as told. "Recognizing Love for Dummies?" He read out loud. "Hey! Isn't this for 12 year olds?"

"Probably," Shikamaru shrugged with one shoulder, "I know it's a bit high level, but they don't have these sort of books for any younger age."

"Hey! That's not what I meant!" Naruto replied with a huff.

Lifting the book out of Naruto's hands, Shikamaru leafed through the first few pages. "Oh, something like this might help. If you really like someone, you will voluntarily do things that you hate, but that they love."

"Yosh! Let's try that." Naruto pumped his fist up. "Alright Shikamaru, tell me what you love that you think I'll hate the most!"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "I am _not _going to be your test subject. Leave me out of your love life."

"Aww come on play along!" Naruto positioned his two index fingers and thumbs in a rectangle and looked at Shikamaru through the makeshift frame. "It's not like I'm actually thinking of you."

"Tch. You are way too troublesome." Rolling his tense shoulders back, Shikamaru tilted his head up towards the skylights carved into the ceiling. A younger Shikamaru wanted to be a cloud. Wanted to be nothing more than a constant bystander floating through life. Little did he realize how taxing it was to have to protect the sun.

Large blue eyes and the most pitiful, puppy dog pout invaded his personal bubble. "I've gotta learn by _doing, _you know that _thinking_ isn't my thing."

Oh the irony, Shikamaru absently thought. Because thinking of others _was_ Naruto's thing. Naruto had more empathy in his finger than an ordinary person's whole body. Yet, he paradoxically couldn't think about and understand himself.

"Fine…I thought of something. But your brain is not going to like it."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto's elbow propped up onto the table for him to rest his chin in his open palm. In the other hand, Naruto flipped a block of wood over and over; it plopped with a solid 'thunk' each time.

"These Shogi pieces look like pineapple cakes. You know, the ones with a flaky crust and filling inside?"

Shikamaru glanced down at the playing piece in his hand. It...kind of did. "You're just like Chouji. Seeing food in everything," he chuckled, but the amusement petered out and then Shikamaru returned to business, "Alright, you know how to play, right?"

"Yeah…kinda. I tried playing Shogi with myself when I was younger. Wasn't much fun though," Naruto admitted, his gaze drifting to the window. A melancholic aloofness glazed his eyes.

Shikamaru watched him, his own eyes softening. "Good. Then this is a good exercise. Put your heart into something you don't like for someone you love," he paused, "But make sure you're not thinking of me," Shikamaru added dryly.

Naruto scrunched his face up and stuck out his tongue.

Ignoring him, Shikamaru moved a rook to the left side of the board. "It's your turn."

"Oh okay, uhhh…" Naruto's eyes darted over the board, teeth chewing his lower lip. After indecisively dawdling, he moved a pawn…one space forward.

Shikamaru fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he moved his King to where the rook previously occupied. Whenever Shikamaru played Shogi, his mind already planned and organized hundreds and hundreds of strategies to use at his disposal. Like rungs on a ladder, he arranged his strategies by level of difficulty and adjusted his tactics according to his challenger. As the turns bounced between them, Shikamaru dropped a step each time. Yet, Shikamaru continued to wipe the floor, quite literally, clean of Naruto's pieces.

Sighing, Shikamaru straightened up from lying sideways on the ground. "Look Naruto, we can stop if you want. Both the library and a strategic board game in one day might be too much for your brain."

"Nah it's fine, I want to finish this," Naruto insisted, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm not doubting you on that but," Shikamaru's lips curved into a frown, "if you give her this half-hearted effort, she would rather you not try at all."

"Huh?"

"Naruto, I thought you were serious. Where did that motivation that you had earlier go?" Shikamaru pressed.

The blond stiffened, placing both his palms flat on the floor. "I am serious! I'm voluntarily doing something boring and that I can't eat!"

Shikamaru leaned forward, motioning to the center of Naruto's chest. "Is that so? What do you think she's going to think? What is she going to feel?"

When Naruto pressed his lips together instead of responding, Shikamaru filled in the blanks for him.

"I'm guessing something along the lines of this, 'Naruto-kun is so bored here with me…it's as I thought, I'm still plain, dark, and weird and he's clearly forcing himself. I'm not bright and beautiful like Sakura-san, Naruto-kun would be happy even picking up trash with her while he would be miserable with me.'" Shikamaru reclined back, but kept his gaze trained on Naruto's face. "And with the way you've been presenting, she would have good reason to believe so."

Something inside Naruto snapped, like a string tethered to too much weight, and he curled into himself. "No! Stop! I'm not bored. I would never be bored with you, Hinata. I don't…I can't hurt you again."

"Hey, hey, Naruto, snap out of it." Shikamaru rose onto his knees and shook Naruto's shoulders.

Naruto peered up at him through his eyelashes, half of his face still buried in his hands. Dark circles shrouded his eyes, and his normally clear skin had pimples dotted across his forehead. He looked awful, and that was putting it kindly.

"You look awful," Shikamaru repeated out loud.

Naruto's tired eyes hardened to a glare, but he didn't refute the words.

Pushing himself up, Shikamaru turned around and headed out of the room. Within a few minutes, he returned with a Styrofoam cup–complete with steam puffing up into the air– and a few wrapped packages of…pineapple cakes.

He settled next to Naruto, gently placing the cup on the table and setting a pair of chopsticks over the lid.

"I think it's been about 3 minutes now. Careful though, it's hot," Shikamaru warned.

At the salty smell of chicken broth, Naruto perked up. Shaking fingers reached for the cup and he wolfed down the contents like he was inhaling air. When Shikamaru returned with a basket of daikon radishes and cabbage, he doubted that Naruto had even noticed that he left the room.

"When was the last time you ate something?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I had a little bit of red bean soup last night," Naruto answered, albeit evasively, between mouthfuls of crunching down on a daikon radish.

One eye shut closed. "No wonder. You're a mess inside and out, Naruto. You don't even like vegetables but here you are eating them without complaint."

Naruto said nothing, too concerned with devouring the food before him like a hollowed lake absorbing water.

"Ah…" A grin spread across his lips as Naruto flopped onto his back.

"Better?" Shikamaru asked, mildly disgusted by how quickly he had eaten. Still not faster than Chouji though.

"Yeah, definitely," Naruto turned his easy grin towards Shikamaru. "Yosh! Let's get back to business," he shouted out, shooting up to a sitting position.

His eyes roved the Shogi board with renewed vigor. "I'm going to give my 110% to learn this! I can't be a stupid, big idiot forever!"

Shikamaru blinked. "Hinata called you a stupid, big idiot?"

Naruto shook his head from side to side. "No. I'm calling myself one. But she has every right to."

A smirk played at Shikamaru's lips. "Alright, let's clear the board and start over then."

"No, we'll use the game we have now. There's probably a bunch of mistakes all over but I can't give up just like that," Naruto claimed.

"Whatever. Suit yourself," Shikamaru replied blandly, but felt a sort of…respect well up inside him.

Naruto carefully scrutinized the board and his remaining pieces, ultimately deciding to shift his rook to the sixth file. In turn, Shikamaru moved his fourth pawn one square forward, allowing space for his gold general to fend off attacks. On Naruto's side, he moved his King to the square previously inhabited by his rook. A defensive strategy? Hm. Interesting. Naruto was trying to preserve this game as long as possible.

As the game continued, Shikamaru found himself climbing _up _on the metaphorical ladder rungs of his strategies_. _He raised an eyebrow, not surprised that Naruto could be smart, but surprised that he had the aptitude to be _this_ smart.

It was Naruto's turn now, and he spent several minutes hovering over certain pieces before abruptly hesitating and withdrawing his hand. A sudden epiphany struck him, however, and he used his rook to chomp up Shikamaru's silver general. Both of Shikamaru's eyebrows rose to his hairline. True, it was only one piece…but, what a dramatic change.

A bang and rattling of Shogi pieces captured his attention. Naruto's forehead rested against the table, and he clutched onto the back of his head with both hands. "Ahh finally, I got one! That took so much thinking my brain is overheating. I don't get how your brain works Shikamaru. How can you think so much without your head exploding?"

Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "I should ask the same for you. How did you manage to play Shogi without _your_ head exploding?"

"Oh. That's easy. I thought about how happy she would feel if I managed to impress her," Naruto mumbled, sleep slipping into his words.

With a small smile, and Naruto's soft snores echoing through his living room, Shikamaru looked out the window. Perhaps…she really was that important to him.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Ah…Achoo!"

Shikamaru opened one eye, a frown settling on his face. "How troublesome…first my shirt and now my blanket. I just did my laundry too."

From beside him, Naruto sat up and yawned so widely that Shikamaru could hear the pop of his jaw. Blinking blearily, he turned towards Shikamaru. "Did I fall asleep? Where are we?"

"Yes. And on my roof," Shikamaru plainly answered.

"Why?"

Shikamaru held up a black and yellow book and lazily waved it in the air. "Lesson number two. You enjoy being with the person even when you're doing absolutely nothing. Now there's a lesson I can get behind."

"Eh? So that's why we're on the roof?" Naruto looked up at the small cluster of clouds, swirling in wisps of white against a soft blue day. "…Cloud watching?"

Shikamaru grunted an affirmation. "The clouds are nice after the rain."

"Oh okay," Naruto nodded slowly, "You're the expert." He rolled onto his back and spread out his arms, eyes blankly staring at the sky.

Silence elapsed between them…until Naruto's rumbling snores once again resounded through the air. In his peripheral vision, Shikamaru could see drool dribbling down the corner of Naruto's mouth and onto his definitely no-longer-clean blanket. Ugh. Why did Naruto always leave behind so many messes?

A few more tranquil minutes elapsed, and analyzing Naruto's strange predicament slipped out of his mind as Shikamaru felt his own eyelids grow heavy. Just before the edges of Shikamaru's vision faded to black, a loud snort startled him to consciousness.

"Gah!" Naruto sat up abruptly, rubbing both eyes with his knuckles. "I fell asleep again?"

Shikamaru didn't respond. Stay quiet. Don't make any noise. Naruto would shut up soon and he could return to his peaceful sleep.

"Shikamaru…this isn't working, I still don't get it!" Naruto exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.

Ugh...Shikamaru leaned back onto his elbows and propped up his upper body. He angled his face towards Naruto, "What don't you get?" Shikamaru asked reluctantly.

"I don't get…how any of this is romance," Naruto sunk his chin into his knees. "If it's like this then I might as well be in love with _you_."

"Not my type," Shikamaru shot down. "Already have enough loud blondes in my life."

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant like, how is romantic love different than Lee loving to train? Or Chouji loving to eat his chips?"

"Naruto, training and chips aren't people," Shikamaru said flatly.

"I know that! I mean. Lee loves training so much that he's willing to go through a lotta pain. And Chouji loves doing nothing and eating chips. That's love too isn't it?"

Shikamaru nodded. "You are not incorrect."

"So then isn't romantic love like, that stuff from movies? You know, the guy brings the girls pretty flowers, or the girl makes bento boxes and peels apples for him? Shino told me it's more than just that, but I still don't…know what," Naruto finished with a defeated sigh.

So this was the extent of his cluelessness. It made sense. Considering Naruto's lonely upbringing and Team 7's dynamic, it was only natural that he used movies and his teammates as models.

"Like I said, I'm not someone who can explain it to you. I don't understand this troublesome emotion myself," Shikamaru admitted. Before Naruto could protest, Shikamaru continued, "The best way for someone like you to understand is to watch some more couples. See how their interactions with each other are different than when they're with other people."

"You mean like…case studies?" Naruto wondered out loud. Suddenly, he perked up. "Like Ino and Sai!" He announced brightly.

"Like Ino and Sai– wait, what?"

Naruto pointed to a figure below them. Shikamaru followed his finger to see Ino practically skipping through town and heading towards the stream.

"I bet she's going to go find Sai. He's always hanging out at the river these days," Naruto explained. "This will work! Sai's just as dumb as I am in this sort of stuff so I can see how he handles it."

Shikamaru groaned. "I don't know…if Ino finds out that we were spying on her she's going to kick _both _of our asses. Oi! Where are you going?"

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

He wasn't sure if he liked the guy. There was something about Sai that seemed…kind of off. But he didn't know enough about him to make a decision. And he certainly didn't intend to learn more by spying on him through the bushes.

"Naruto. I'm leaving," Shikamaru drawled.

"What? It's too late! Ino will see you if you leave now."

Shikamaru regarded him with hooded eyes. "I'm a _shinobi _I'll be–"

"She's approaching him! Shh!" Naruto hushed.

True to his word, Ino had finally finished making herself "presentable" and bounded to lean over Sai's shoulder.

"Hey Sai-kun! What a coincidence to see you here. What are you up to?" She smiled broadly from ear to ear.

Sai didn't look up from his sketchpad. "Drawing," he stated.

Neither a genuine smile nor a fake one was plastered on his lips today. Ino's cheery disposition faltered. Apparently, Shikamaru hadn't been the only one to notice.

"Oh nice," Ino nodded, taking a seat besides him. She raised an eyebrow. "You're not drawing flowers today?"

"No."

"Oh okay. That's cool. It's good to practice drawing different things." She craned her neck to get a better look at his painting. "Those…rocks look really good."

"Thank you," he responded curtly.

The corner of Ino's mouth twitched, but she kept her tongue behind her teeth. After a beat of silence, Ino re-composed herself.

"So…were you the one who cleaned my house this morning? Thanks for doing that," Ino said gratefully, keeping the light in her voice cheerful.

"No. It was not me," Sai replied.

Ino blinked. "Oh…then who was it?"

"Your teammates and Sakura, I believe."

"Huh?" The blonde wrinkled her nose. "No way. Shikamaru's way too lazy to do that. Especially if he's hungover."

"Then just the other one," Sai clarified crisply.

Ino narrowed her eyes. "The other one? You know their names, Sai." She sighed, turning to face him fully. "Alright Sai. Spit it out. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he clipped, eyes focused on shading a rock with his brush.

Blue eyes burned to a glare, her short-temper spiking. "Don't 'nothing' me. Don't you trust me?"

Sai's hand froze; he dropped his brush. "It is none of your concern," he claimed.

Ino's lips twisted into a frown. "None of my– what? Sai I _care _about you. What the hell are you saying?"

"Do you?" He snapped. Dark eyes finally met blue. "Or am I a puppet that conveniently fills in a hole?"

Confusion washed over Ino, petrifying her into silence.

Sai continued, "It has been perplexing me for quite some time. Why someone like you–someone popular, pretty, and confident– has expressed interest in me. You've had several other boyfriends before. Other boyfriends who were much more interesting characters compared to myself. I have no family. No personality. Not even a real name. I am no one."

Regaining her ability to formulate sentences, Ino opened her mouth to speak. But before she could utter a word, Sai cut her off, "No, it is true. I am speaking objectively. I have done much research on the subject of love and have tried to follow the instructions. But after yesterday, I finally understand. We are not real."

Ino furrowed her brow until deep creases appeared on her forehead. "What do you mean…we're not real?"

"Yes." Sai nodded once. "At first, I admittedly felt flattered that you wanted to perform intimate activities together."

Her eyes widened and a crimson blush inflamed her face. "Are you talking about Truth or Dare? Dare or Drink, whatever."

"Yes," he repeated again. "The more I thought about your answer, however, the more bothered I became. It was very strange. I have trouble feeling emotions, yet this turmoil caused by you was very clear." Sai held Ino's gaze and said his next words with unyielding certainty, "You chose me as someone to fuck. Not someone to marry."

Ino's mouth plunged open, and she sputtered, "I-I was drunk, okay. You're misinterpreting this the wrong way."

Sai pursed his lips. "Am I really? You do not have interest in me, but rather, the idea of me. You have interest in finding a male companion so that you do not feel left out within your friends. Hinata wants Naruto. Sakura wants Sasuke. It is only natural that you want someone too. I am the one who most conveniently fits that role."

"Hey!" Ino bristled, a livid fire dancing in her eyes. "Don't talk about _my _feelings as if you're _me_!"

"I apologize, I was merely expressing my own deductions," Sai said in a monotone far too devoid of emotion to be sincere. "The way I see it, you want me as a prize to show around. Something material, and ultimately, disposable. That's what we are."

Ino dropped her head into her knees, using her arms to pull her legs closer to her body. "What…what kind of girl do you think I am? Do you think I use men to make myself feel better? Do you think it's impossible that I could like you simply because I just _do_?" She croaked out, voice wobbly, like it was teetering on the edge of a cliff.

At that moment, Shikamaru brusquely yanked Naruto out of the bushes and sprinted away in a blur of grey and black. Once they reached a clearing of tall grass, yellowing in the autumn weather, Shikamaru plopped Naruto onto the ground.

"That was a mistake," Shikamaru ground out, voice carefully controlled.

Naruto remained rooted to the spot that Shikamaru had planted him on. "I…I've never seen Sai act like that before. I wonder what he said next."

"I don't know. I don't care." Shikamaru turned his back away, hands crammed deep in his pockets. His dark eyes glinted dangerously under the sunlight. Anger boiled within him, an anger that was different from when Asuma-sensei or his father died. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. This anger was inexplicable, irrational, and maybe if he cleared his brain he could break down the pieces and figure it out.

But right now, he let himself seethe. He let himself mentally pummel Sai to the ground. Let himself replay their heated conversation over and over in his mind. God, he needed a cigarette. Underneath the surface layer of his mind, he knew that most of all…he hated himself for being unable to protect Ino.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling Shikamaru with patches of light amidst the leaves' shadows. It was still fairly early– the morning air cool, crisp, and causing the hairs on his skin to prickle almost pleasantly. The nice day, however, did little to alleviate Shikamaru's mood.

"Hey, you haven't eaten all day right?"

Shikamaru didn't move as Naruto plunked down besides him on the damp bench. The blond offered him a skewered mackerel on a stick and a cup of green tea.

His lips quirked into a small, wry smile. "You remembered that I like these?"

"Of course I remember! How could I forget the awful smell?" Naruto said cheekily.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but nevertheless accepted the gift. "Thanks…I just need a moment," he admitted, taking a sip of his tea. The hot liquid soothed the tightness in his throat.

"Sure, not a problem," Naruto agreed, chomping down on his fried mackerel and swinging his legs back and forth. "This is kinda nice. We haven't hung out just the two of us for a while."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Ah, it can't be helped that we're both getting busy. That's what happens when we have to grow up. We're going to be adults soon with troublesome responsibilities and even more troublesome families."

Naruto laughed, nudging Shikamaru in the arm. "Oh come on Shikamaru it won't be so bad. The future's gonna be bright I just know it!"

He would never admit it, but seeing the confident sparkle in Naruto's eyes lightened the weight of his burdens just a little. The two fell into a comfortable silence, and Shikamaru's anger cooled to a tepid frustration.

As if reading his thoughts, Naruto suddenly spoke up, "Hey Shikamaru…how come we didn't jump in and stop Sai from saying those things? You know, clear things up for him. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt her."

"Because," Shikamaru sighed, "we weren't supposed to be there. It only would have been worse if Ino knew that we had witnessed her like that. That girl…she has a lot of pride."

"Oh," Naruto responded. He massaged his temples with his index fingers. "Man…this love stuff is _hard_. It's so confusing. I think Sai was going overboard, but at the same time Ino had unintentionally hurt him too. Nothing's black and white."

Shikamaru smirked. "And that's why I prefer to get involved with none of it."

A teasing twinkle entered Naruto's eyes. "I don't know about that, you seem pretty close with Tem–" He stopped short, skin paling until he resembled a white sheet. "Gah! H-Hiashi…abort mission, retreat!"

"What?" Shikamaru craned his neck around to see that Hyūga Hiashi was indeed strolling down the dirt path. A firm tug propelled him to his feet and Shikamaru whipped his head around to see Naruto practically dragging him away.

"Oi oi," he called, digging his heels into the ground. "Since when were you so afraid of Hinata's father?"

"I'm usually _not_. But yesterday, I was supposed to take Hinata home and um…I got lost. So I didn't," he answered evasively.

The hazy picture in his mind focused, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "So you left her in your house, alone I presume, and very hungover or confused."

"No…I wrote a note! Anyways let's go," Naruto urged.

The dark-haired boy allowed himself to be pulled away. "So…you _did_ do something to Hinata last night? That's why you're so scared?"

"What!" Naruto skidded to a stop so abruptly that Shikamaru lurched into him. "Of course I didn't! But…" He rubbed the back of his neck with his arm. "I think it's my fault that she got so drunk. Either way, I'm not gonna be on her father's good side today."

"Actually, that might be my fault," Shikamaru confessed.

"What?" Confusion saturated Naruto's expression.

"While Shino had his hands full preventing you and Sasuke from torching down the place–seriously, it was like you two wanted to start a war in that apartment, I stayed with Hinata and tried stopping her from going overboard–"

"You didn't do a good job!" Naruto interjected.

"–It was either that or stopping Lee from ripping off his clothes and challenging everyone to a beauty contest. Pft, I made an attempt." He crossed his arms across his stomach and shifted his weight to the side. "Even if I drank half of her drink, she'd just pour herself another one. It was troublesome, and pointless, since in the end both of us fell asleep."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto pouted, momentarily displeased before he suddenly softened his face. "Did she…say anything about me?"

Shikamaru hesitated, not sure what to say as he met Naruto's urgent, wide eyes.

"No," he answered, deciding to spare him.

"Oh…" Naruto looked down, scuffing his shoes against the grass.

"Anyways, let's get going," Shikamaru quickly changed the subject, giving Naruto one shove in the back before jogging away himself. He angled his head back and reminded, "If she's really that important to you, you can't let her father kill you first."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Jagged twigs and itchy leaves clashed against his skin, leaving thin, streaks of red on his bare arms. What a troublesome day to not have his black turtleneck.

"Are you serious, Naruto? The best hiding spot you could think of was _more_ bushes? It's not like the man has all-seeing eyes or anything like that," Shikamaru intoned sarcastically.

Naruto sniffed indignantly. "I didn't see you taking us anywhere better!"

Before Shikamaru could reply that _he _wasn't the one with a target on his head, two familiar voices filtered through the bushes. Oh no, he inwardly groaned.

Shikamaru wasn't the only one to notice; Naruto's eyes widened in recognition and he scaled the bushes to peek over the top.

"It is them!" He confirmed in surprise.

"I've learned my lesson about eavesdropping on couples. I'm leaving," Shikamaru announced, beginning to worm his way through the mess of brambles.

"Shikamaruuu," Naruto whined. "I've been trying to learn from their interactions all my life! How come I still don't understand love?"

"Not my problem," Shikamaru deadpanned, "You can find me after–"

"Sasuke-kun, did you hear something?"

Both boys froze, immediately concealing their chakra patterns.

A beat of silence. Then a neutral reply, "No."

Although, Shikamaru could have sworn he felt the Uchiha's eyes glare through their weak excuse for a barrier.

"Oh okay. Must be my imagination."

If Shikamaru squinted his eyes and if he peeked through the right holes in the shrubbery, he could vaguely make out Sakura crouching over a hospital bed and tending to Sasuke's bandages.

"You know…we still have an artificial arm made out of Hashirama-sama's cells ready for you," Sakura began slowly, unwrapping the bandages around Sasuke's stub.

Sasuke said nothing.

"So if you want the prosthetic procedure, we could…arrange it for you."

This time, Sasuke did flicker his eyes towards her. "No, there is no need."

Her expression deflated, but she pressed on, "Are you sure? It wouldn't be too much trouble, honest." Sakura gently traced her fingers across his skin, sending tingles running up and down his spine.

Sasuke didn't respond immediately, opting to press his lips into a thin line. After a tense silence, he stated, "It bothers you, doesn't it? That I do not have an arm."

Sakura stiffened, her brow creasing. "No, it doesn't bother me," she proclaimed firmly, "Sasuke-kun I just…want you to finally be happy. I think that if you had an arm you'd be able to enjoy life more."

"Hn. An arm would not make me enjoy life more," Sasuke replied.

"Why not?" Sakura asked earnestly.

Sasuke opened his mouth only to clamp it shut instantaneously. After some deliberation he finally settled on saying, "You wouldn't understand."

Her shoulders tensed, an unreadable emotion flashing across her eyes. However, almost as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. She plastered on an easy grin and reached for her medical charts. "Fine. Okay. You're probably right, I wouldn't. I'm not going to push you to share anything," she said evenly.

Dark eyes peered up at her, trying to catch her averted gaze. "Don't…take it that way."

"Don't take it what way?" She parroted back, not looking up from her clipboard.

"…Nevermind," Sasuke sighed. "Sakura, I'm going to leave Konoha soon."

Sakura stilled in her scribbling, the resulting silence so thick that a shuriken couldn't even slice through it. Her eyes flitted to him–shining in a myriad of emotions from open to questioning to overwhelmingly _sad_. "Already? But you just got here…won't you at least stay for Naruto's birthday?"

He flinched at her words but steadily continued, "No…I can't. I have to go. I must continue my journey."

Sakura took a deep breath, her grin fading. "Do you think that maybe…maybe I could come with you this time?" She shyly asked, tentatively moving her hand towards his.

Sasuke retracted his hand out of her reach, slipping it behind his back. "Like I said before, you have nothing to do with my sins. You wouldn't understand."

Sakura's fists balled tightly at her sides, and it was heart-wrenchingly painful to watch her struggling to reign in her emotions. "Fine," she clipped, "I wouldn't understand, of course I wouldn't."

A frown etched onto Sasuke's face. "Sakura…don't be. I–"

"You what? You don't mean it that way? So what _do_ you mean? Or am I too naïve and too innocent to ever understand?"

The frown stretched tightly on Sasuke's lips.

"Maybe you're right, I could never understand. Even so, I always _want _to if you'd…if you'd _just let me_. I want to share your pain. But all you ever do is push me away…" She trailed off, grabbing onto her elbow with one hand.

"Sakura I…" Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut. "I want to shelter you from all the evil parts of me. And it's…it's hard for me to open up to anyone."

"Is really that hard for you to open up to anyone? You don't seem to have any problem with Hinata. I'm sure _she_ could understand you," Sakura retorted back.

"Hinata?" He stood up rigidly and scowled. "You…you too? You've got to be kidding me."

Shifting away from him, Sakura folded her arms underneath her chest. "It took you forever to warm up to me, y_ears. _But you got close to her practically overnight."

"Naruto is stupid enough to act so ridiculous. But you too?" Before Sakura could snap back, Sasuke barreled on, "What do _you_ have to be jealous about? You and Naruto have spent everyday of your lives together, with lots of alone time no doubt, for the past several years."

"Yeah, we did. And so what? Why would it bother you? Since when did you care about the two of us being together?" Sakura bit back.

Sasuke inhaled deeply through his nose, dodging her questions. "It's true that I see Hinata as a level beyond toleration, we might even be friends. But I opened myself up because _you _asked me to. I attended all these ridiculous social events for– I came back to Konoha for…" His breath hitched, almost imperceptibly, and he turned his face away from her.

The reminder ebbed away some of her frustrations; she closed her eyes. "I know…and I really appreciate it, I do. I just can't help but feel…" The rest of the words fell away.

"That's why we cannot work."

Sakura lifted her head up towards him, eyes wide like a newborn does'.

"I will not be able to make you happy. Everything I do…is too little. Is not right. Is not enough. _I_ am not enough."

"Sasuke-kun no I–"

"It's the truth," Sasuke interrupted. "I have nothing but darkness surrounding me. You don't need to be involved in that." He stared at her with an unwavering attention that would have unnerved anyone else. "Sakura…I see now that I cannot…be the person you wish for me to be. Being with me would only give you a life of hardship. So you should…forget about me. Try for someone else similar to Naruto. I am not a prize you should be striving for."

Sakura said nothing. She stood still as a stone statue–hands curled tightly into fists and skin stretched taut over her muscles. Her head shot up, green eyes brimming with unbridled rage and hot tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.

"How dare you Sasuke. How. Dare. You," she punctuated each word harshly.

She took one step forward. "How dare you minimize my feelings? _Again._ Even after all this time you still treat me like a little girl with a little crush. How are you…" The tears streamed down her face and she croaked out a choked sob. "How are you able to keep casting aside my feelings like that? As if they're nothing but specks of dust for you to swat away. A prize…is that what you think I see you as? That I want you to love me back so I'd get a sense of accomplishment from winning your affections?"

Sakura held her chin high and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "You must think I'm so foolish. So, so foolish for being unable to forget about you and choose Naruto or Lee or whoever. Well you know what, you're right. My heart's a fool and can't change so easily like that. But you know what my heart _can_ do? Break. Break and shatter into glass shards that cut into my skin and it's like they're saying, 'Why why why, _why _are you doing this to yourself again Sakura?'"

Hot tears had stained her cheeks again, and she struggled to suppress the rest. She breathed shakily through clenched teeth. "You are worth so much more than a prize to me," she whispered, "perhaps it is you who wouldn't understand."

Pivoting on her heel, she stomped towards the exit. She only made it three paces before Sasuke gripped onto her wrist and pulled her back against his chest.

Sakura quivered in her shoes. "What are you–"

"I cannot accept the arm because I do not deserve one."

Green eyes trembled; she didn't turn around.

"The crimes I've committed, the suffering I've caused, the hate I've created…I'm carrying too many sins on my shoulders. If you were to be by my side, I'd only drag you down to hell with me," Sasuke said, voice low, gravely, and utterly sincere.

"Your affections and your forgiveness, it is…overwhelming. I…I can't accept it. I don't deserve it. It's as if I've been locked in a dark cave for years and you're the sunlight trying to pull me out. But in the end it's too bright, too strange for me to bask in the sun. It's better for everyone if I had just stayed alone in the darkness." Sasuke gently twirled Sakura around to face him. Tears no longer leaked out of her eyes, but the moist residue still stained her cheeks. Sasuke lightly padded his thumb over her tear streaks. "You have no reason to love me. You wouldn't need to cry anymore if you didn't."

"Sasuke-kun," she muttered his name quietly, her eyes glued to the floor. Brushing the hesitation out of her mind, she gulped down a large intake of breath. "I love that you express yourself with actions instead of words. I love that everything you say is honest, even if the words are cold." Her voice picked up power, head gradually rising. "I love that you're witty and make sarcastic comments. I love that you listen to everything even if you pretend not to. I love that you…_understand_ me."

Green met black in full force; the intensity in her bright eyes capable of melting even the iciest of glares. "I love you because I _believe _in you. I believe that deep down, it's not just that you can be good, but that you _are _good."

"Sakura," was all he managed to say, eyes unblinking as Sakura jumped into him and wrapped her arms around his torso.

He found his one arm, his one hand, clutching onto the fabric of her white coat like it was a lifeline. If he had another arm, another hand, it would _not_ have been wiping at the tears that _definitely had not_ pooled in his eyes.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Shikamaru swished the green liquid in his teacup, absently watching the sun lighting his drink in flecks of yellow. The tea's warmth seeped through the smooth ceramic and into Shikamaru's thin fingers. The hangover had waned since the morning, and the green tea admittedly soothed the leftover pressure thumping his head. Naruto's romantic adventures, however, certainly didn't speed up the process. Even so, Shikamaru couldn't quite blame him.

From besides him, Naruto took satisfying sip of his own drink. "Ah…" He leaned back until his back hit the picnic table. "Hey Shikamaru you know what's funny?"

"That your preferred choice of drink isn't ramen broth?" Shikmaru droned.

"That is kinda funny but no!" Blue eyes glazed over and he watched a blade of grass sway in the wind. "What's funny is that…I don't feel anything here." Naruto patted the left side of his chest, right at his heart, with an open palm. "No resentment, no jealousy, no pain."

Shikamaru turned towards him, waiting for him to continue.

"There was once a time in my life where I would have done anything to hear Sakura-chan say those sort of words to me. I thought that if she finally liked me back this hole in here," Naruto fisted his hand into the black turtleneck he wore, "Would go away. I thought that I wouldn't feel so lonely if one person honestly wanted to be with me."

Naruto lifted his gaze towards the underside of the tree in front of them. "But watching Sasuke and Sakura like that…only made me want to cheer for their happiness." A small smile twitched onto Naruto's lips, followed by a chuckle. "I guess that's it, the light bulb is officially dead."

"You want to know what I think?" Shikamaru's voice cut into Naruto's reflections.

"Sure. Go for it."

"I don't particularly care about relationships or love in general. Way too troublesome. But if Sakura _did _choose you, and you knew that she still had these strong feelings for Sasuke, you would constantly feel like a consolation prize, wouldn't you? She would have chosen you as a means to forget about Sasuke."

"A consolation prize…" Naruto rubbed his thumbs together. "I guess so."

"If you understand that, then shouldn't you be able to understand how Hinata feels?"

"Hinata?" Naruto scrunched up his brow. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Shikamaru sighed and reached into his back pocket for a notepad.

"Oh! A flipchart!" Naruto exclaimed, looking far too giddy upon seeing the plain notebook.

"Er…yeah. Kind of." Shikamaru used his teeth to pull the cap off a pen. He scribbled crude drawings on four separate sheets of paper–first, a girl with shaded in straight hair, second, a boy with three whisker marks on each side of his face, next a girl with a diamond in the middle of her forehead and short hair, and lastly, a boy with shaded in spikes. After adding an arrow to the bottom of each page, Shikamaru slowly flipped each page over.

"So…do you get it now?"

"Yeah…" Naruto placed two fingers beneath his chin thoughtfully. "Your drawing skills…are really bad. I can only tell which ones are girls because you put eyelashes on them."

The notepad whacked against his head and flattened his yellow spikes.

"Oi, oi focus." Shikamaru pointed to the first drawing. "This is Hinata," he turned to the next page, "and her arrow is going to you. Your arrow is going to Sakura. And Sakura's arrow is going to Sasuke."

"Where are you going with this?" Naruto questioned, frowning.

"You to Sakura is like," Shikamaru flipped back to the first page, "Hinata to you. Hinata knows this. She knows she's chasing after a person romantically invested in someone else."

Naruto held up a hand, frown still in place. "Hey, hey, Shikamaru. I thought you were smart."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

Shaking his head, Naruto elaborated, "Me to Sakura-chan, and Hinata to me, are two completely separate things. Sakura-chan has rejected me at every turn. She made it clear every single time that she didn't like me like that. When we first met, she didn't even like me at all! As for me, I've _never_ rejected Hinata. I didn't even think she liked me 'cause it was impossible for me to believe that someone _could_… actually like me." Naruto looked down at his hands, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "To tell you the truth…I still need more time to really figure out my feelings. But when I'm with Hinata…I feel warm everywhere, like my heart feels all fuzzy and I get flashing images of a future together and it's honestly…kind of nice."

A smile spread across Shikamaru's lips. "Naruto, you didn't need me to teach you anything."

Laughing, Naruto bashfully scratched his cheek. "Nah, you helped lead the way for me. Thanks for helping me out today, really. You're a great friend Shikamaru."

Shikamaru averted his eyes, sliding his hands into his pockets. They sat in comfortable silence, a rarity for Naruto, and it was no surprise to Shikamaru that Naruto broke the calm in a matter of minutes.

"…Giant bunny?"

"Hallucinations? You're more sleep-deprived than I thought."

"No, no look! There's actually a giant bunny over there." Naruto shook his finger towards a wheelbarrow that was indeed carting a huge plush animal. He jumped to his feet. "I have to get it."

"You want a giant bunny? Well at this point, anything you do doesn't surprise me anymore. Where are you–" He cut himself off, rolling his eyes as Naruto dashed to the cart.

"Oi! Old man! How much for that big rabbit?" Naruto skidded to a stop in front of him, resting his hands on his knees.

The man turned around, bewilderment crossing his face before settling to recognition. "Oh…you're Naruto-san aren't you? The Village Hero?"

The blond shot him an awkward grin and waved him off. "Err…yeah."

The old man remorsefully shook his head. "I wish I could help you…but this rabbit is unfortunately not for sale. It has to be one of the prizes on display for the winter festival."

Naruto's face fell to a crestfallen puppy-dog pout. "No…that's too far away. Please old man, I'll work for it. I'll do anything."

He shifted from foot to foot before biting his lip. "W-Well…my daughter does own a Dango Shop. Maybe we could work out some sort of trad–"

"Yes please!" A whiskered face stopped short just inches from the man's face. A tap on Naruto's shoulders made him tilt his head ever so slightly.

"Sorry to interrupt this…I don't know what this is," Shikamaru nonchalantly gestured to them. "But there's…something that I gotta do. See ya around, Naruto."

Naruto backed away from the old man to wave to Shikamaru. "Bye Shikamaru! I'll be sure to come back to you when I have more questions, you're the best romantic-love-sensei a guy could have!"

"Please don't. Also, never call me that again."

Contrary to his dry farewell, Shikamaru couldn't help but smile as he walked away. Somewhere along the day he had noticed that it wasn't exactly romantic love that was important to Naruto, but rather... All Naruto had to do was piece together the last puzzle piece himself.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

The light fragrance of flowers floated through his nose. The shop smelled like a curious blend of tropical aromas and vanilla flavors that somehow mixed into a general scent of "nice-smelling." Shikamaru was no poet. He leaned back on his heels, rocking back and forth onto his toes.

"Ino, this Hinata obsession of yours is getting creepy," Shikamaru stated, roving his eyes over the rows of photos clipped to a laundry line.

"Shikamaru?" Ino straightened up from slouching behind the counter. "Since when did you get here?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Just now. The bell rang and I said hello and everything."

"Oh…really? Sorry about that. I'm just…" Ino bit her lip.

"Still a bit hungover? Yeah don't worry it's fine," Shikamaru excused for her.

"Hungover? Y-Yeah, that's right. Anyways," she clapped her hands together and pulled on a bright, thousand-watt smile. "What can I do for you Shikamaru? Finally gonna show some class and buy Temari some flowers?"

"Tch," was all he offered, but a faint blush heated up on his face.

"There's no need to be so shy about it," Ino teased, waggling her eyebrows. "You know the other day, I saw Sasuke-kun staring into the store and looking super conflicted. How much do you wanna bet he was thinking about getting flowers for Billboard brow?"

"Nothing, because I couldn't care less," Shikamaru intoned.

Ino stuck out her lower lip. "Oh Shikamaru you're no fun. What have you been up to all day?"

"Hanging around with Naruto," he answered.

"Pft," Ino blew her bangs out of her eyes. "That guy…he better get in here soon and buy the entire store for Hinata-chan."

"Knowing you, you'd find a way to rope him into it."

Her lips stretched into a wry smile. "Nope…I promised Hinata-chan yesterday that I'm done. Although, it _is_ a shame. All I want is to see my friends find happiness. Is it really that bad if I want to…give them a little push?" Ino sighed, pressing her cheek into the palm of her hand. "You…Billboard, Hinata-chan, you've all had it pretty rough. You deserve some good blessings for once."

"And so do you," Shikamaru admitted softly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. Dark eyes scanned the colorful baskets, bouquets, and pots before settling on a cluster of pink flowers with fuzzy yellow centers. "I'll take a bunch of these," he requested.

"Ohh, let's see what you've chosen for your lucky lady. Those are–" Her breath caught, blue eyes blinking rapidly. "Cosmos…" she finished saying. _"Cosmos are my flower," _he could practically read the betrayal in her eyes.

In the snap of the fingers, Ino re-composed herself. The hurt fizzled away and an eerily chipper smile took its place. "Alright! No problem. I'll choose the best ones for you."

She skipped out from behind the counter and knelt down in front of the display of cosmos. Lithe fingers picked out the healthiest of stems and brightest of petals; she bundled them together with a rubber band and returned to the register to wrap them in a square of clear plastic.

"Let me just wrap these for you and you'll be good to go. You know what? This one will be on the house. In exchange, make sure you tell me how Temari reacts when she finds out you of all people actually got her flowers," Ino tittered in a way that would have sounded perfectly normal to any other person.

"Can you make it a delivery?" Shikamaru suddenly inquired.

Her hands stilled, smile faltering. "Sure, no problem." She opened a drawer and reached for a felt pen. "Where to?"

"Here," Shikamaru replied instantly.

"…Here?" Ino repeated, mouth parting open.

"Yes, right here," he confirmed again.

"You're getting flowers for my mom?"

At that, Shikamaru chuckled. "No, they're for you."

Her jaw unhinged even further. For once, the loudmouth blonde was struck with a loss of words.

Shikamaru averted his eyes and played with a loose thread unraveling on his shirt. "I…I think that you're a girl with a kind heart who sincerely cares about people. There. One man's opinion negating another's. So…d-don't worry, okay?" He stammered out uncomfortably.

Laughter filled his ears as Ino pressed her hand over her eyes. "Shikamaru…that's just like you to choose the most awkward way to reveal yourself. Like I didn't already know that you were watching the whole thing. You can hide your chakra pattern all you want, but we're practically family now and I can even tell if your _dead body_ was nearby."

He wrinkled his nose. "How morbid."

"I know right?" Ino raised her hand off her eyes and used her thumb to wipe at her eyelashes. Shikamaru frowned, taken aback by the unwelcome arrival of tears.

"A-Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ino lazily waved a hand as she tried to even out her breathing. "Shikamaru…don't get mad at Sai, okay? I've been trying to see it from his side, and maybe…maybe he has a point. I'm just the girl who wants to have fun and be the center of attention. Not the girl ready to have serious feelings and settle down. He's right, isn't he? It's what everyone says about me anyways." The tears welled up in the corner of her eyes again and she looked down at her hands.

"He has no point," Shikamaru interjected, scowling. "Like I said, you're a girl with a kind heart who sincerely cares about people. So what if you're popular? So what if you like to have fun? It doesn't change a thing about your feelings. If Sai can't see that it's nothing but his huge loss."

"Shikamaru…" She choked out a laugh, drying her eyes before more tears could form. "Move me aside, _you _should be everyone's couple counselor. Come here you!" Ino stepped out from behind the counter and tackled Shikamaru into a hug.

Shikamaru stumbled backwards and awkwardly returned her embrace. A couple's counselor? No thank you. But somewhere in the far recesses of his mind… he knew underneath all the troublesome messes and reluctant complaining… he would still dig himself into any hole for his friends.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

x-x-x

**Author's Note: **Sorry for taking a bit of time, so I made an especially long chapter! I'm actually not sure how this chapter will be received, but I suppose I chose a controversial topic to tackle in the first place. I made efforts to keep the fights as fair-balanced as possible and humanize their emotions because often times in fights, it's not clear who or what is right. There's not as much direct NaruHina this chapter, but when I thought about it I really wanted to develop the overall message and round out the other character's sub-arcs in the process. I've been trying to reply to burning review questions a bit more, but I'm admittedly kind of bad at it so sorry if you slipped through the cracks!

**Personal Whatnots: **I am a pharmacy student; classes are not only demanding, but there's also a perpetual pressure to be professional, composed, and carefully poised everyday of our lives. I started writing after a huge blank period as a form of escapism and also as a way for me to...find my emotions again. But, I really need to pull my reality together now, and there will unfortunately be a bit of delay for the last 2 official chapters and possible epilogue. (I've been super excited for the next chapter since Chapter 1!) I also have to update **Of Parallel Lines &amp; Intersections** too, since it's been forever since I updated that and I've been neglecting it for too long.


	10. Hinata's Decision: At Winter's End

x-x-x-x-x-x

Hinata's Decision: At Winter's End

x-x-x-x-x-x

* * *

It didn't hurt the way she expected. She expected…a shattering of glass. A crushing pressure on her chest, mercilessly squeezing her heart into itty bitty pieces before falling away like cracked diamonds. She waited for the ache to throb in the empty space.

But a broken heart was funny like that.

If she could compare it to anything, it was like she had collapsed in a puddle of mud. Rain pouring over her as she curled into herself and gazed past her hands–gazed through the empty spaces between her fingers and into the indented holes the rain pounded in the mud. It was obvious that she needed to stand up, go home, or at the very least _leave_. But she rooted herself to the spot and allowed waves and waves of _nothing _to wash over her.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at the wooden plank boards above her. Eyes unblinking, lips parting open, and nose inhaling a quiet breath. Yes, this time it was reality. This was how it would always be forever and always. Waking up in the tranquility of the Hyūga compound in her very own room. Alone.

Or at the very least, she would never wake up in Naruto's empty apartment again— bundled in blankets that coated her with his rustic, earthy scent and tinged with the lightest salt of sweat. Unconsciously, her hand reached for the drawer in her nightstand and she fumbled around for a scrawled note.

_Hi Hinata! I hope you're feeling better this morning! I cooked some red bean soup for you in the kitchen, just reheat it and it's good to go. Make yourself at home! I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. There's something I needed to do…. something super duper important._

_-Naruto_

Her traitorous heart warmed. She shut her eyes tightly and took in a shallow breath. No Hinata, stop it! She knew that she read far too deeply into every line and every word. Naruto's kindness extended to everyone, and just because he acted so sweetly didn't mean he returned her affections, or even _wanted_ her affections. Hinata abruptly sat up and ran a hand through her tousled hair.

Memories and images from two nights ago throttled back to the forefront of her mind. The innocent dare. The burning sensation of everyone's eyes on her–sympathetically watching her as if she would break like a porcelain doll before them. The hesitance and discomfort and _panic_ clear as day on Naruto's face as the options jumbled in his head.

The way he chose Sakura.

In one rigid movement Hinata ripped the note in half. Then again, she ripped it to fourths. Ripped the little piece of paper again and again until it became tattered shreds.

She pulled her legs into her chest and dropped her head onto her knees. What…what was she doing? Should she really have been so surprised? How could she have expected Naruto to love her the same way she unconditionally loved him? Even after all this time, he somehow brought her back to Square One with one night and one answer.

"Don't cry, don't cry, _don't cry,_" she repeated the mantra to herself in a voice barely above a whisper. Yesterday was his last chance, she had told herself. But she hadn't seen a single glimpse of him, and whatever was "super duper important to him," clearly wasn't her.

"Stop it, Hinata," she chided herself.

It wasn't his fault that he didn't like her. He didn't owe_ anythin_g to her. As long as Naruto was happy…she was happy. Her heart rate slowed down, beating to a dull thrum, and she propped her chin onto her knees. Yes…Naruto deserved to be happy. If she truly believed in his happiness, earnestly said the truth when she told Shino and Kiba her wishes, then it was time to have her heart follow suit.

Hinata swung her legs to the side of her bed and stood up, prim, proper, and with her head held high. Today was the day. A fork in the path had arisen, and today, she chose the one that lead to where she would no longer love Uzumaki Naruto.

She forced herself to smile, and when her lips slipped into a thin line, forced herself to smile even harder.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hinata, is everything alright?"

She paused in swinging her arm back and turned towards her teammate. "Of course it is. Why do you ask, Shino-kun?"

Shino didn't respond, standing stiffly with his hands in his pockets. Hinata furrowed her brow.

"Shino-kun?" She prodded.

"Nothing really," he calmly spoke as if the lull in the conversation hadn't existed, "something just seems off about you."

"Off about me?" Hinata repeated the words slowly. Arteries and veins bulged from the side of her eyes as she activated her Byakugan and stared ahead. "I don't believe so? I've been hitting the target with every kunai, right at the center of their hearts. What do you mean, Shino-kun?"

Shino shrugged with one shoulder, but carefully observed how Hinata tightly clutched the kunai in her hand. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Hinata pursed her lips, but before she could say anything, Kiba and Akamaru bounded up to them.

"Alright, me and Akamaru are all warmed up and ready to take you _down_ Shino!" Kiba exclaimed, wearing a cocky grin as he pointed at the bug-user.

Shino clicked his tongue. "You mustn't be so arrogant. Why? Because it will only increase your embarrassment when you are defeated."

If anything, Kiba's grin only became more feral. "Oh yeah? Good thing that's not going to happen because me and Akamaru are gonna win!"

A nearly inaudible huff spilled out of Shino's lips. "What did I just say? Battle must be won with a level head. Why? Because–"

"HINATA!"

Hinata blinked, then brought a hand up to the shell of her ear. "I must be hearing things…." She muttered.

"No. I heard it too," Shino replied, shifting towards the training ground's entrance.

"W-What? But why?" Hinata stuttered, far more flustered than she wanted to be.

"HINATA!" The voice blared again, followed by boisterous calls of, "KIBA! SHINO!"

"And I _see_ it too," Kiba chimed in, squinting his eyes into the distance. "Yo Naruto! What are you doing here?"

"Visiting of course!" He shouted back.

Hinata glanced back to see Naruto– sticking out like an orange flame in the grass and cheerfully waving at them– before herding Kiba and Shino into a huddle.

"Do either of you two have a mission with him today?" She asked in a hushed tone.

Both of her teammates shook their heads from side to side. Hinata bit her lip.

"What about lunch plans? You two occasionally eat lunch with him, right?"

Kiba scratched at his cheek. "Nah, I didn't see him at all yesterday. Unless I made plans that night and I can't remember…"

"You talked to him that night?" White eyes widened and she released a small gasp. "By any chance, did you say anything to Naruto-kun at Ino-san's party? About me," she clarified tentatively.

"Uhh…" Kiba trailed off, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I honestly don't know. I don't think so?"

"You did not say anything Kiba," Shino supplied.

"I see. Okay," Hinata exhaled a sigh of relief.

Crossing his arms under his chest, Kiba jutted out his lower lip. "But if I was sober you bet that I woulda! Honestly Hinata, there's only so much we can watch! If you won't get mad at him then I'll do it for you."

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata admonished immediately. "Someone…sober and irritated…" Her eyes curiously traveled to her other teammate. She opened her mouth, a hunch–larger than an inkling but far from a conclusive deduction– pieced together in her head. As she grappled with finding the right words, she failed to notice the tall shadow hovering over her.

"So…why are we all whispering?" A low and husky voice joined in.

Hinata squeaked, straightening so suddenly that the person behind her toppled to the ground and landed with a hard thud.

"Ow…" he groaned, brushing dirt off his pants.

Despite his allegiances, a smile played at Kiba's lips. "You're still as clumsy as ever, Naruto."

"Me?!" Naruto pouted.

"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" Hinata blurted out. Mortification paled her skin as she cupped the lower half of her face with both hands.

Naruto lightly chuckled, "Don't worry I'm totally fine, not even a scratch! Sorry, it's my fault for standing so close to you."

"Tryin' to act all cool in front of Hinata huh?" Kiba drawled.

Maybe Hinata had overused her Byakugan and needed to rest her eyes; she didn't know what else could explain the faint blush rising onto Naruto's cheeks.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata chastised, furtively elbowing him in the ribs.

Akamaru appeared from behind Kiba and barreled into Naruto, tackling him to the ground.

"Hey!" Naruto laughed as Akamaru's fuzzy tongue licked the whiskers on his cheek. "Long time no see buddy!"

"Oi, oi Akamaru, we're training!" Kiba reminded, taking a step towards his companion. Akamaru halted in tumbling on the grass with Naruto and slowly padded back to him. Sad puppy dog eyes quivered. His owner sighed, "Oh come on, don't give me that look…"

"Yeah Kiba, let us play longer!" Naruto added, blinking innocently at Kiba.

A shiver ran up and down Kiba's spine. "Eesh. Do _not _look at me like…like_ that_," he motioned his hand in vague circles.

Naruto stuck his tongue out, but then let his eyes drift to a spot above Kiba's head. A large oak tree towered over them, aged yet sturdy, and with a list of numbers engraved on its trunk. "Hey…you beat my record. When'd that happen?" His voice lilted in surprise.

"Record?" Kiba followed his line of vision and craned his neck up. He thrust a thumb towards the tree behind him and smirked. "You bet. Your time of 3:33 was no challenge at all."

"Pft." Naruto pointed at the newest race time carved onto the bark. "Like your time of 2:58 was much better. If I could do 3:33 when I was 10 years old, then I'm way faster than 2:58 now."

The corner of Kiba's eye twitched. "Is that a challenge I'm hearing?"

"Maybe it is," Naruto returned back with a smirk.

It didn't take long for the two of them to agree on a pathway–artfully drawn with a stick in dirt– and the two shinobi took off like two hares in a race.

From the sidelines, Shino shook his head. "Kiba is not approaching this with a level head. He always fails to heed my warnings," he grumbled the latter quietly to himself.

Hinata said nothing.

The two stood as quietly as graves, and it wasn't that Shino was unaccustomed to silence…but.

"What is wrong," Shino stated, firmly, though not unkindly.

"Nothing."

"Please inform me."

"Nothing that's important," she nearly clipped. She stared down at her shoes, at the blades of grass flattened underneath her sandals, and wished that the Hyūga clan had made it a habit to wear dark sunglasses and she could conceal her stupid, expressive eyes.

"Please inform me," Shino repeated. "Why? Because we are friends. And everything is important to your friends."

She was okay. More than okay. This was not a big deal. Definitely not a big enough deal to be discussed, yet somehow she found herself saying, "It's strange, but I feel…relieved that Kiba-kun is distracting Naruto-kun."

"Why is that?" Shino questioned.

Hinata hesitated, but the unyielding attention past Shino's glasses caused her to relent. "It's just that…I decided this morning that I no longer want to be in love with Naruto-kun."

She took a deep breath and fidgeted with her hands nervously. Telling someone about her choice somehow…solidified her decision. The cold pit that hollowed in her chest when she said it out loud would soon fade away. All in a matter of time. "I guess I…don't feel prepared to see him quite so soon," she admitted.

Shino said nothing, though his eyebrows had knit together.

When Shino made no indication to speak, Hinata continued, "Shino-kun, if I may ask…did you happen to say anything to Naruto-kun? About me," she politely inquired, tone light and casual.

A stretch of silence filled the space between them. Then a calm reply, like a pebble rippling into a pond, "Perhaps."

"Shino-kun!" Hinata cried. "What, um, what did you say?"

Shino turned towards her. "I provided him with another perspective. I wished for Naruto to understand that his actions have consequences. Certain negative consequences on a precious friend of mine."

Her eyes softened. "Oh Shino-kun, I appreciate your concern for me, I do. It's just…" she brought one arm up to grasp at the opposite elbow and looked down at her shoes again.

"Go ahead, Hinata," Shino encouraged.

She sighed, and mumbled, "You promised me that you would leave Naruto-kun alone…twice."

"Once," Shino clarified. "The second time Ino made the incorrect presumption that we all had agreed to your request."

"Alright, once," Hinata conceded. "Even so, one promise is still a promise."

"I apologize," Shino stated, bowing his head towards her.

"It's okay. Well, I'm okay. I–"

"However, I do not regret my decision."

Her shoulders tensed. "Shino-kun, you told me that you'd remain impartial. And you told me you wanted me to be happy, correct?" Hinata said kindly, but even she could hear the strain in her voice.

"Yes, I did."

"So…it'd make me happy if you could...please leave Naruto-kun alone. Everyone's been giving him a hard time, and it's not his fault. It's all mine, really. Don't worry about me. I'm giving up, for sure this time," she proclaimed, carrying an eloquence that indicated her request was more than a suggestion.

Shino looked at her for a long time, expression unreadable. Hinata matched his stare, eyes never leaving her teammate.

"Reconsider," he said.

Hot frustration rose in her chest.

"This is my–"

"Why? Because you said that you could not so easily replace your affections for Naruto. Therefore, it is not time for you to give up," he cut off and continued before she could speak, "Tell me, would it honestly make you happy to give up your love without talking to Naruto yourself? You are providing yourself with closure too early."

Her eyes squeezed shut and she curled her toes. "I don't know."

"Wait a little longer," Shino offered gently, softening his monotone.

As if on cue, Naruto rounded past the grove of oak trees and sprinted the last stretch– a straight path up a hill, dappled with shade from long tree branches. Kiba darted out from behind the corner, hot on his heels.

Hinata's eyes drifted to Naruto. His arms pumped up and down, sweat trickled down his forehead, and his mouth hung agape as he puffed out pants. Rushing, rushing forward. Always running full speed ahead to the finish line. Whenever Hinata stretched out her arms and extended her fingertips and maybe, just _maybe, _thought she could graze his back…he would run out of her reach. Sprint away and leave her with nothing but his shadow. Naruto would never look back. Naruto had _no reason _to look back. Not when there were spectacular things like his newfound popularity, Sasuke's retrieval, and the road to Hokage on the horizon. Naruto was going to finally be happy. And that was all she wanted from day 1, honest.

Yet...and she was being horrible, she knew, she couldn't help but count the days in his shadow, never walking beside him.

"What is it that I am waiting for?" She finally replied, more to herself than for Shino's sake. The day Naruto found his true love? The day he finally rejected her? She was so tired of being a consolation prize. Of being _Naruto's _consolation prize. If by some chance, Naruto did date her, would he wake up every morning imaging her face to be someone else's? The image shook her harder than she wanted to admit, and she felt the embarrassing pressure of tears pricking her eyes.

"Hinata," Shino said urgently, concerned.

"Sorry, I," she cleared her throat and blinked away the moisture, "I think I'm going to take a break from training early today, I don't feel so well and I need to prepare to meet Sakura-san for lunch anyways," she explained, mentally patting herself on the back for not a single stutter.

"I see," Shino droned, staring at her with his eyebrows slanted ever so slightly–Shino code for suspicion.

"I'm fine, please don't worry about me," she waved off, mustering up her brightest smile before shifting to the side and blocking herself from Shino's view. Her face fell and she closed her eyes, placing her hand over her face–four fingers above her eyebrow and her thumb on her cheekbone–and discreetly wiped her eyes with her palm. When she re-opened her eyes, her heart nearly jolted out of her chest.

Standing in the dirt path, right in a middle of his race, Naruto had stopped short and with panting breaths, openly stared at her. The intensity of his blue eyes could pierce through walls, and he looked at her with a fervency that she had never seen before.

She blinked, was he really looking at her? She twisted her neck back and quickly scanned the surroundings. Nothing too unusual. Her thoughts were interrupted by a cacophony of thumps and startled yelps.

"The hell Naruto?! Why'd you stop like that? We're racing ya know," Kiba growled, brushing dirt off his pants as he pulled himself off of Naruto.

"I know, I know," Naruto insisted. Still sprawled out on the floor, he tilted his face away from Kiba and blushed. "Sorry I um…I got distracted."

"Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun, are you okay?" Hinata called, her face scrunching up in worry. She took a few steps forward.

"I'm fine, nothing more than a few bruises," Kiba responded back, waving his hand in the air.

"Me too! Even though Kiba is heavier than he looks. Like a _lot _heavier," Naruto replied.

"Oi," Kiba narrowed his eyes, "It's all _muscle._"

"All muscle huh…" Naruto grumbled under his breath. A wince flashed across his face and he sucked air through his teeth. It didn't go unnoticed by Hinata's keen eyes, and she crossed the distance between them. Hinata was still Hinata.

"Naruto-kun, could you please show me your hand? The prosthetic," she gently elaborated, extending her hand and laying her palm up. When she saw the hesitance in his eyes, she turned to Kiba and said, "Kiba-kun, I think Shino-kun wanted to ask you a question. Could you please find out what he needed?"

"Hah?" Kiba ruffled his hair. "Yeah, I guess."

When Kiba moved out of hearing range, Naruto opened his mouth, only for nothing but silence to come out. Perplexed, Hinata waited patiently. As he sat gaping like a fish, however, Hinata nodded in what she hoped came off as reassuring.

"Hi," he finally settled on.

_Smooth, _she could practically hear Naruto's thoughts out loud as his ears burned red. Her lips quirked into a tiny smile. "Hello."

Stepping past roots that jutted out of the dirt and broken branches, Kiba didn't look up from the forest floor and grumbled about how he _definitely _would have won if Naruto hadn't frozen like a deer in a light. He didn't look up until he reached a foot away from his teammate. "Yo Shino, what did ya want?"

"I do not require anything of you," Shino informed point-blank, unsurprised by Kiba's company.

Kiba, on the other hand, scrunched his face in confusion. "Huh? Hinata told me you wanted to ask me something."

"That is not true."

"Oi, what's going on?" Kiba complained, but Shino had no more to say on the subject. He turned his attention back to Naruto and Hinata, and nearly did a double take at the tender way Naruto looked at her, blue eyes soft and glowing with warmth. It wasn't the way he looked at a new ramen dish, or how his face lit up when a villager praised him, or even anything like that… if Kiba had to describe it he looked at her as if he liked–

Nudging Shino in the arm, he lowered his voice. "Shino, you seeing this?"

His teammate's head slowly bobbed up and down.

Despite being a fairly normal Shino response… a feeling in Kiba's gut turned into words, "Hey are you alright?"

"Yes," Shino answered immediately.

His suspicion doubled two-fold. "You sure?"

After a brief pause, Shino nodded again. His hands emerged from both of his pockets, sliding out slowly and stopping at the fringes of his pockets. Fingers curled slightly, he pinched the fabric of his jacket before allowing his hands to fall limply at his sides. He did not turn towards Kiba and said, "Yes. Why? Because I know what my priorities are."

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

Haruno Sakura was amazing. No question about it. Anyone who disagreed was simply… wrong.

Of course, Hinata wasn't the only who realized this. Villagers idolized her, medical professionals revered her, and that ice block of a human, Uchiha Sasuke, protected her with every fiber of his being.

Suitors across all villages clamored for her attention, and Hinata absolutely understood why. As a combination of beauty, brains, and brawn, it was no wonder that everyone under the sun loved her. Hinata couldn't even remember the last time anyone had a crush on her, probably because no one ever did, and when she looked at Sakura, she knew it was no secret why.

"–So I was thinking, even though physically these children are healed, how do they feel…on the inside? I want to create…a program that helps children cope with living through the war. After seeing everything that Sasuke-kun and Naruto went through…I don't want any child to have to suffer like they did. What do you think Hinata? You think I can do it?" Sakura asked a touch hesitantly, the silent wish for approval tucked in her question.

Hinata set her fork down with a clink, the answer already obvious. With a firm nod, Hinata reassured, "Absolutely. Sakura-san, there's no one else more suited for the job. You're going to make so many people happy."

Sakura beamed, bright and happy and not at all like a dark, weird girl. "You really think so, Hinata?"

"Of course," she replied. An emotional support clinic was a great idea—Sakura was amazing for always, always wanting to help people. To _save _people. She actually made differences.

The smile on Sakura's face lit up even brighter, and she said, "I'm so glad we've started having lunch together more regularly. You are like a breath of fresh air compared to…" she rotated her wrist in the air, "actually you just _are _a breath of fresh air. You're the sweetest person I know, not to mention the nicest."

_You're wrong, that's not right. _She thought immediately, guilt bubbling within her. _I'm petty and awful and…jealous. Why am I jealous of my close friend?  
_

But Hinata kept those thoughts locked tight as she pulled on a tight smile. "You're giving me too much credit, Sakura-san."

Sakura shrugged. "I don't think so."

Hinata pressed her lips together, her mind unconsciously scouring for any of Sakura's flaws. Large, green eyes openly shined back at her, warm grin still in place.

Nope. Nothing. Why was she even _looking_ for imperfections? What kind of friend was she?

"Hey Hinata? Is something wrong?"

Was she always so transparent?

"No, I'm alright," Hinata swiftly responded, shaking her head for extra emphasis.

"Are you sure?" Sakura pressed in concern.

With all these people studying her like a book, Hinata wished she had just stayed home and burrowed into her bed.

Nevertheless, Hinata schooled her face into perfect composure and mustered up a smooth answer, "Yes, I'm definitely alright. Perhaps I'm still a little tired from Ino-san's party."

"Still?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, but seemed to accept the answer. She chuckled, "I guess you did go pretty hard, I was surprised Hinata."

Pink dusted her cheeks and she laughed politely. In all honesty, Hinata would have preferred to erase the entirety of that night.

The two ate in silence; Hinata noticed that something preoccupied Sakura's mind, but not in a particularly negative way. Usually she would have inquired her friend about it, except today she felt content to push her food around her plate…

"Cinnamon buns? That's the food you like?"

Bright blue eyes peered curiously at her before he craned his neck forward. He leaned over the windowsill and studied her cinnamon bun like it was an unknown specimen.

She peeped out a squeak, jolting upright and nearly falling out her chair.

"N-Naruto-kun," she managed to say, berating herself for stuttering.

"Hi again Hinata!" He replied cheerily, smiling with a thousand-sun intensity that couldn't possibly be directed at her.

Naruto watched her expectantly, his smile faltering as her shock melted into confusion. When it dawned on Naruto that she didn't have words to reply, he cleared his throat…only to be interrupted by Sakura smacking his forehead and thrusting his head back.

"What are you doing you idiot?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Hinata's a classy girl, you've got to give her space."

"Oh," Naruto rubbed his neck, an embarrassed blush tinting his cheeks. He shyly met her eyes, "Sorry about that Hinata. I finished eating lunch early with Kiba and Shino and wanted to find–I mean, I ran into you guys here," he finished quickly.

Hinata blinked. "Can you say that again?"

"I finished eating lunch early with Kiba and Shino and ran into you guys here," Naruto repeated, his smile now a bit strained.

"Oh…okay."

"What are you eating Sakura-chan? Smells good!" Naruto changed the subject, leaning so far down that the tip of his nose touched Sakura's cake.

"Hey! What did I just say about classy girl's needing their space?" Sakura reprimanded.

"You said classy girls like _Hinata_ need their space. You didn't say anything about yourself–hey hey OW! My arm isn't supposed to twist that way!" He yelped, struggling to wriggle out of Sakura's death grip.

"You're over exaggerating, I'm barely using any force," Sakura muttered, suddenly releasing Naruto's arm and flicking his forehead with a 'thwock'.

He reeled backwards, hands flying up to nurse his new bruise. "Ow?! And you wonder why I didn't think you were…." he halted, gulping down thick saliva as Sakura's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, "I mean…what-was-I-thinking-of-course Sakura-chan is classy."

"That's what I thought," the pink-haired girl said with a simper, raising a cup of tea to her lips.

Just like that, Hinata faded into the background—a forgotten wallflower in the shadows of the main characters. Naruto and Sakura continued to banter, but their words blended into empty chatter as Hinata watched the two of them together. She swallowed down the discomfort that rose to her throat, ignored the misery that soaked her heart, and looked at Naruto and Sakura—really looked at them.

They were good for each other. Konoha's hero and heroine. If they began a relationship, no one would be surprised. She watched the way they bantered—easily, with their sentences flowing out like second nature and with a familiarity from years of trust. Even though Sasuke held Sakura's heart, there must have been a time in Sakura's life, perhaps on a tranquil night when she couldn't sleep and stared at the ceiling, when she paused and earnestly considered Naruto's feelings. What if Sasuke couldn't reciprocate Sakura's affections? Would Sakura one day…

Hinata sharply inhaled, exhaling in a shaking shudder. She chastised herself for acting un-okay, when she was definitely okay, but neither Sakura nor Naruto had even noticed. Of course not, why would they? Why would _he_? He wanted Sakura all his life: not Hinata, _never _Hinata. Why would that change now? In the deep recesses of her heart, Hinata had clung onto a small sliver of hope. A small, _stupid _sliver of hope that snaked, zigzagged, and winded down to nothing more than a dead end.

From above her, Naruto laughed, heartily yet almost nervously, though she had missed the conversation and didn't know why. Hinata flickered her eyes towards him and her curiosity vanished. Of course he wasn't looking at her. Of course it was something Sakura had said that made him laugh.

Sakura made Naruto smile. Naruto made Sakura smile. She knew him inside and out. He knew her inside and out. She was amazing. He was amazing. Together, they could…they could…

_They could make each other so happy_, the thought played like a song, repeating like a chorus in her mind. Hinata wanted to be happy for them, she really did. She only wished she could do so without hating herself.

A slam on the table and clattering of silverware arrested everyone's attention. Naruto and Sakura's heads whipped forward, faces painted with as much shock as she felt.

"I have to go," Hinata breathed shakily, the words flying out. Her eyes drifted down to her hands stretched tautly over the table, supporting her weight as she found herself suddenly standing. When Naruto and Sakura did nothing but stare at her in concern, her frustration only intensified. Why did everyone keep looking at her that way? As if she was a doll ready to break and they had to sweep up her pieces?

Hinata cleared her throat and collected all the poise she had left, "I have to go meet my father for some training. I'm sorry for not letting you know earlier, Sakura-san. I'll see you later," Hinata offered a small smile to Sakura before turning towards Naruto, "Good bye Naruto-kun," she addressed.

"Hinata wait–" Sakura called, also rising to her feet. But Hinata darted out in a flash, already out the door and disappearing faster and faster.

What was she doing? She was so…so _awful. _She was so horribly _jealous _when she had no right to be. She wanted to feel happy; she was _supposed _to feel happy for him. How many times had she gone over this? Haruno Sakura was amazing and everyone under the sun loved her, Sakura was the best and Naruto deserved the best. Hinata fell nowhere in that picture. So why why why did she–

A firm grasp encircled her wrist and she jerked backwards. She spun around to divert the momentum and kept herself from falling. Bent over, one hand on his knee and the other still gripping her wrist, Naruto blurted out, "Was my place okay?"

Hinata's lips curled into a slight frown. "What?"

"You know, my apartment, my room," Naruto peered up at her through his eyelashes, almost bashfully, "I know it's pretty messy…and maybe smells a little funny. I should have tried to clean it up more before I left."

Something clicked into place in Hinata's mind.

"Your…your place," her eyes widened.

"I was trying to find your house, honest. But I got lost and I didn't know what to do so I just brought you home and I swear I didn't do anything," Naruto continued as Hinata noted that he unnecessarily rambled as much as she unnecessarily apologized.

Before he could say more, Hinata bowed lowly, remembering the manners embedded in her. "I don't know how I could have forgotten, I'm so ashamed…Thank you for taking care of me the other night."

Head still bowed, she continued, "I sincerely apologize for being such a burden to you…it's so embarrassing. I-I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Naruto laughed, clasping his hands behind his head. "Don't be embarrassed! I do more stupid things in one day than you do in your entire lifetime."

Hinata giggled in spite of herself, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Naruto perked up. "Like, if I wrote down every embarrassing thing I did it'd fill a whole scroll! So don't worry, you don't need to feel bad and you definitely don't owe me anything."

Her giggles subsided and she shook her head. "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto smiled, taking a step closer. "Hey, wanna hang out with me? We could get some more training in." A funny look crossed Naruto's eyes, as if remembering something important. "Actually, let's not train," he suddenly amended, "do you want to come over to my apartment? I just got this new ramen I wanted to try and I'm not completely full from lunch—"

Alone with Naruto? She broke eye contact. "A-Actually I have to go, bye Naruto-kun," Hinata announced, slipping away before he could respond.

"Wait what?" Naruto called from behind, bewildered. "Hinata?" The confusion in his voice was expected, but it was the concern that startled her. She quickened her pace, concealing her chakra pattern as she turned a sharp corner.

She felt like a coward. No, she _was _a coward. Weren't they friends? Why couldn't she face him? Hinata breathed deeply and released a shuddering exhale.

Don't overthink, he doesn't know what he's saying, she reminded herself. Did Sakura push Naruto to chase after her? Did Naruto make an impulsive decision to follow her? Whatever the reason, it had to be an innocent, friendly gesture.

_Could he...could he maybe like me?  
_

Hinata shook the thought off immediately, clearly delineating the line between dreams and reality.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

She closed the door behind her with a soft click, leaning against the wooden frame. One…two…three…she counted down, exhaling a long sigh and closing her eyes. They fluttered open a few seconds later, and she bent over to untie the straps to her sandals. As she added her sandals to the Hyūga's neat row of shoes, a familiar padding of feet entered the foyer.

"Nee-sama!"

"Hi Hanabi-chan," Hinata answered, lifting her head up to acknowledge her sister with a nod.

"You've got a guest in the living room," Hanabi cut to the point, gesturing for Hinata to follow her. Even though her body stilled, her heart hammered against her chest. She chided herself for already jumping to conclusions.

"Who is it?" Hinata asked evenly, remaining rooted in her spot.

Her sister shrugged, "I'm really not sure."

"Can you give a description?"

"Uhh…blonde, loud, and honestly kind of obnoxious," Hanabi described.

Hinata tensed, swiveling on her heel. "I'm going outside for some fresh air."

"What? But nee-sama what about your guest?"

"Please give him my apologies," Hinata instructed, already slipping her foot into a sandal.

Hanabi materialized in front of her and tugged on her wrist. "Nee-sama…you're acting weird."

"No, I'm not. I'm fine," she brushed off, pulling herself out of her sister's grasp.

"Uh huh…" Crossing her arms over her stomach, Hanabi insisted, "at least check out the living room before you go. You have to see it."

"I can see it later—"

"Onetwothreefourfive, it's five seconds later now, let's go."

Before Hinata could further protest, Hanabi latched onto Hinata's arm. Her 'buts' and 'not now' fell on deaf ears as Hanabi practically dragged her to the living room.

"I-I don't want to see him right now," Hinata confessed in a rush of words, a little more than flustered.

"Huh?" Hanabi stopped in her tracks so suddenly that Hinata nearly toppled over her. "What are you talking about?"

"Naruto-kun…it's him isn't it…" she trailed off as they passed the opening to the living room. Hinata froze in her steps, jaw unhinging slowly.

Was it really a living room anymore?

Sunflowers, violets, peonies, carnations, roses (so many roses), and huge bouquets of colorful flowers invaded every nook and cranny of the Hyūga living room. It smelled like a field of flowers after a summer rain, and even without her Byakugan Hinata could see water droplets speckled on the fresh petals.

"T-This is…"

"I know right?" Hanabi finished, pulling a kunai out of her sleeve and twirling it in her index finger.

"Who brought all of these?"

"Your guest, of course."

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "My guest?"

"That's right!" Came a familiar voice, soon followed by a blur of blonde and ending in a tackle hug.

"It's not a him," Hanabi teased, smirking as Hinata blushed from her incorrect assumptions.

Hinata wriggled out of the surprise hug and held the person's shoulders at arms length. Her mouth opened and closed in confusion until she finally blurted out, "I-Ino-san? Why did you bring all these flowers?"

Her 'loud, blonde, and kind of obnoxious friend' giggled bashfully, a touch nervously. Taking a large gulp of air, Ino clapped her hands together and closed one eye, peering at Hinata with the other.

"Sorry sorry sorry. I'm so sorry," Ino readily apologized, hanging her head lower.

"For what—"

"I wasn't quite sure which ones were your favorites so I brought all of them! A bouquet of every single flower that we stock. I would have come yesterday but it took me a while to prepare…" Ino babbled on.

"Ino-san, what are you apologizing for?" Hinata reminded, genuinely confused.

"What? You couldn't seriously have forgotten," Ino exclaimed, raising both her eyebrows.

The puzzle pieces sprinkled down like a shower of rain. Of course she hadn't forgotten, she only wished she had.

"Oh," she said simply. Unsatisfied, Ino continued to stare at her with beseeching puppy-dog eyes. Keeping her sigh as quiet and subtle as possible, Hinata elaborated, "It's fine Ino-san, really. I'm actually grateful that you pushed me with your dare. It helped me realize that well— I see now that—" she sighed again, louder this time, "anyways, it was for the better."

"Hinata…" Ino breathed out. The look Ino returned her couldn't be molded into words, but Hinata knew that she hated it. Her blue eyes shimmered with a glossy sheen, as if they quivered with unspoken words.

"It's fine. I'm fine," Hinata reassured with a hollow smile that did nothing to change Ino's heartbroken expression. She briefly considered the irony—why was she consoling others over her own broken heart?

"Did I miss something?" Her forgotten sister piped up, sliding closer to the other two kunoichi until she hovered between them.

Hinata hesitated, but Ino stooped down to Hanabi's eye level and pulled on the sunniest grin, all traces of her previously somber mood gone.

"No, everything's fine," Ino said smoothly, patting Hanabi's dark brown hair and brushing the stray bang out of her eyes. "You should be very proud of your sister, she's amazing you know? Super strong too."

"Of course I know, and of course I am," Hanabi responded automatically, turning to her sister with a playful, but warm, smirk. There must have been something amusing in Hinata's expression, because Hanabi soon broke out into giggles. "Nee-sama, you blush from everything," she said, amused, "I'm going to return back to training now. Bye nee-sama, flower lady." Hanabi lazily waved her hand in the air as she strolled out of the room.

After Hanabi exited the room, Hinata shifted back to her guest. "Ino-san, I appreciate the gesture but please take all these flowers back. There's no need to apologize."

"Hey Hinata-chan, you know what I love the most in the entire world right? I'll give you a hint, starts with the letter 'S,'" Ino said, ignoring her completely.

Pursing her lips, Hinata decided to humor her, "Um…could it be Sai-kun—"

"Shopping! You are absolutely correct! That's what you said, right?"

"S-Sure…"

"So how about it? You ready to go?"

"What? Right now?"

"Yes right now! I know that you're free," Ino added with a wink.

"But, um…but—"

"No buts! I'll treat you! I'll buy you anything you want."

"N-No there's no need for that," Hinata shook her head, fiddling with her hands as Ino eagerly bounced around her.

"Nee-sama just go already," Hanabi called from afar. "It's better than staying at home and hiding from the other loud, blond you're avoiding."

Hinata groaned quietly in defeat.

* * *

x-x-x-x-x-x

"So what do you think? Cute right?" Ino queried, throwing aside the fitting room's curtain. She twirled around to show off a purple top that ended snugly below her breasts and a long matching skirt.

"Yes, very," Hinata agreed, deciding not to point out that the new outfit already had an uncanny resemblance to her usual attire.

"Thanks! I think I'm going to get it." Ino beamed, rotating back to the mirror to fix her hair. "What about you Hinata-chan? Find anything cute?"

The Hyūga heiress shrugged. "Not really. I don't really go shopping often, a lot of things don't suit me—"

"Nonsense!" Ino interrupted. "You're adorable, end of story!" She grabbed Hinata by the wrist and led her over to a bin of clothing.

"Ino-san, I think you're supposed to change back into your clothing before leaving the fitting room…"

"Small details, small details," she waved off, her focus on perusing through a bin of mix and match clothing. "What do you think about this?" A tiny, Chinese style qipao fell over Hinata's arm. Pale flowers snaked up the vibrant red fabric, and even though it was admittedly cute, Hinata had no problem rejecting it.

"No…not again, this is much too…revealing."

"Not again?" Ino's interest piqued.

"N-Nevermind," Hinata hastily amended, shifting away from the topic to dig through the pile of clothing. "Um…what about this dress?" She suggested, holding up a brown dress with a deep scoop line.

"Ohhh, very daring, I like it Hinata-chan—"

"With a shirt underneath of course, it'd pair well with a long sleeve shirt or turtleneck."

Ino groaned. "Come on Hinata-chan, you've got a body to _die _for. You can totally take advantage of it. If you weren't so modest then you'd have all the boys wrapped around your finger. Even Naruto would never be able to take his eyes off of you again."

Hinata stilled. A frown settled on her face, and as it deepened, so did the cold feeling encasing her heart. "Is that so?" She said carefully, replacing the brown dress back in its place. "Is that the only way? To be honest, I don't think that'd even be enough."

She knew it was unfair. It wasn't what Ino meant. Even so…she simply couldn't help it. Where did all this bitterness come from? (It was _always _there. Even from the beginning you were a petty, insecure little girl).

"No that's not what I—damn it." Running a hand through her blonde hair, she bit on her lip. Her eyes squeezed shut. "You know what? Screw Naruto, screw all _boys! _I'm so done with trying to impress their dumb asses."

"…Ino-san?" Hinata furrowed her brow, unprepared by the sudden tirade.

"How can our feelings not be taken seriously? Why can't they be grateful for what we have to offer? For who we _are? _When is myself going to be good enough? You know what," Ino snatched the discarded brown dress and then promptly marched to the register.

Fuming, Ino dug around in her satchel and slammed down a mix of bills and coins. "I'm buying this dress for you. Right now. And you're going to wear it with all the turtlenecks and winter jackets and whatever you want."

Hinata stepped towards Ino, tugging on her sleeve. "Ino-san? Are you alright?"

She combed her blonde bangs up towards her hairline before letting them flop over her eyes again. "Yeah," she said breathlessly. "Sorry about that. Don't know what came over me."

Hinata gave her arm a light squeeze. It occurred to her that this shopping trip might not have been for her. "Ino-san, it's alright. I…" A wry, innocent smile lifted her lips. "I agree with you." She laughed, nervously at first, but then blossomed to an unlady-like guffaw. "That's probably not what you wanted to hear, and it's far from reassuring advice. But…I think I understand."

Surprise flashed in Ino's eyes. Fondness tailed after it, and then tapered off into that indescribable sadness. "Hinata," was all Ino said, her anger considerably ebbed.

"Yes?"

"You know what? You should wear this dress right now, I want to see how cute you look in it."

"Now? B-But I don't have anything to wear underneath."

Ino's sharp eyes scanned a rack to their left and honed in on a plain, cream-colored long sleeve shirt. She plucked it off of its hanger and thrust it into Hinata's hands. "There you go!" She chirped. Without waiting for Hinata's protests, Ino prodded Hinata towards the fitting room.

The curtain shut closed, and in a blink of an eye Hinata found herself within a spacious fitting room clutching her newly acquired clothing. Her confused reflection blinked back at her. Reluctantly, Hinata slipped off her clothing. The long-sleeved shirt fit surprisingly well, and she pulled the dress over her head with relative ease. There really wasn't a need for such fanfare, she thought, as she threw back the curtain and stepped out of the changing room.

"Love it!" Ino cheered, clapping her hands excitedly.

"It's alright," Hinata said, already inching back towards the fitting room. "Thank you for buying it for me," she added, remembering her manners.

"It looks great!"

Hinata stilled, frozen in place. Her hand clutched onto the doorframe as she inclined her head slowly backwards.

Her breath hitched, any thoughts she had unfurling and disappearing in the blankness of her mind.

Luckily, Ino swooped in gracefully, "What the hell are you doing here Naruto?!" Ino shifted towards him, arms akimbo.

"Eh? I'm not allowed to be here?" Naruto replied, rubbing his neck.

"I mean _why _are you here?" Ino clarified.

"Oh," Naruto kept his mouth open to continue, but suddenly hesitated, closing it shut. After collecting his answer, he said, "Just happened to be in the area. N-Nothing suspicious."

Ino raised an eyebrow, and Naruto shifted his eyes to Hinata. "I've never seen you wear brown before. Is it your favorite color?"

Hinata shook her head, "Um…no."

He perked up, eyes brightening. "Let me guess, it's lavender right? Or at least some sort of purple."

Disbelief flooded Hinata's eyes, as did a warm, fluttery feeling in her chest that had no business being there. "Um…yes, actually."

Naruto broke into a broad smile, "Yosh, at least I got something right," he sounded strangely proud, "It's a good choice, lavender matches your eyes really well."

"Thank you," she replied levelly, desperately making sure that her voice didn't come out as a squeak. He stared at her; so openly and warmly, and dare she think _fondly? —_she must have been imaging things. She closed the curtain abruptly, leaning against the mirror and listening to the blood pound through her ears.

"What's with you Naruto?" Ino asked suspiciously.

"Huh?"

Exasperated, Ino sighed, "I'll get to the point. What are your intentions?" She kept her voice low, but Hinata could still hear the crispness in her whispered breaths.

"Don't worry! I have an answer this time," Naruto exuberantly responded. Apparently, subtly wasn't in Naruto's skillset. "Hinata's my friend, yet I barely know anything about her. I thought—'how is that even possible? I thought we were close friends. Why don't I know the basics?' It's weird, isn't it? I can't believe it took me so long to think about it."

"Naruto, you know she can hear everything you're saying, right?"

Indeed she could. She had taken off the dress and switched into her civilian clothing, now clutching the brown fabric in between her fingers. _Don't allow yourself to be easily flattered, _she reminded. He's trying to be a better friend—Naruto's a nice person who does nice things for all of his friends and she wasn't a special exception.

And well….That was fine, wasn't it? He wasn't obligated to give her more attention than any other person.

Why did she keep running away? She wasn't just not-nice and not-sweet, she wasn't even a good friend.

With a long inhale through her nose and exhale through her mouth, Hinata raised her hand towards the curtain. As her fingers grasped the coarse cloth, a beeping alarm blared from the other side.

"Ahh already?" Naruto muttered to himself, she could hear him fumbling with plastic on the other side. Something clacked onto the floor. "I gotta head out, I'll see you around Ino."

"Where are you going?"

"My job!" He paused, as if waiting for something. "Bye, Hinata," he called eventually. Her name rolled off his tongue gently. Softly, like he was setting down fine China. She didn't know whether to be frustrated by his cautiousness, or incredulous that he made her sound so…precious.

"Bye, Naruto-kun," her mouth said automatically, though she made no move to open the barrier dividing them.

Moments later, Hinata heard the familiar thudding of footsteps—the rough scritch-scratch of sandals hitting pavement. His retreating back was a sound she was only all to accustomed to.

"Hinata-chan? Are you still changing?" Came Ino's voice from the other side.

But Hinata didn't answer immediately, leaning back onto the mirror and feeling the cold glass seep through the material of her shirt.

"Hinata-chan?" Ino prodded again.

This time, Hinata responded back with a simple, "Yes?"

"Remember how I kinda blew up earlier?" Skipping the wait for Hinata's answer, Ino continued, "Hinata, I don't think you need to agree with me. He's almost there, I know it. He's just an idiot about understanding his own feelings."

Hinata struggled to reign in her sigh, "Ino-san—"

"No Hinata, I mean it. You two would be so good for each other."

"He's Konoha's hero and I'm nowhere close to being Konoha's heroine," Hinata interjected.

"What? That doesn't matter. What matters is that you're a person that makes him better. You're _his _hero."

"I beg to differ," she bit back quickly, shoving down her betraying heart's hopeful flutters.

"You know I wasn't really drunk. Well, not _that_ drunk."

"What?"

"I wasn't really that drunk," Ino repeated. "I know, I know that I put you and Naruto on the spot and that was horrible of me, but I just really want you two to be happy. I didn't think it'd turn out so badly…"

"I am happy," Hinata insisted, growing more and more frustrated as those memories broke out of their closed drawers.

"Just give him a little more time, Hintata. He's almost there," her voice dropped lower, pleading.

Eyelids closing shut, Hinata slumped down the mirror and landed on the ground with a dull plop. "I know that all of you have good intentions. And I appreciate it, I really do. But no one understands how many times my heart has already been broken. I-I can't do it anymore. I can't keep picking up the pieces only to crush them again. It hurts. It hurts a lot to be second place. I know, I've never been first for anything in my life."

"Hinata…that's not true," Ino persisted.

"It is true, it's already been this way for too many winters to count. It's always nothing but a cycle of false hope and disappointment. I can only lie to myself for so long."

"Hinata, this is _Naruto_ we're talking about here. He's not exactly the brightest when it comes to romance."

"He's really not as dumb as everyone thinks he is…" Hinata muttered in his defense.

"See? Only you would say something like that. You'd be good for him. In fact, he _needs _you. Don't you think you understand him better than anyone else does?"

Hinata curled her toes. "I wouldn't say that…"

"Why not?" Ino pressed.

"Because," Hinata wavered, "because that makes me sound like I'd be a first choice," she finished quietly.

"And what's weird about that?" Footsteps shuffled closer. "Hey Hinata, I'm coming in—"

"No," Hinata jumped to her feet and quickly gathered her bag. "Sorry Ino, I have to go," she said as soon as Ino appeared through the entryway.

"Hinata—"

She ducked around Ino and bustled away before the blonde could even blink. "Thank you for the dress!" She called out before exiting the store.

_What if he...could he.. Could Naruto-kun like me back? We could hold hands and go on dates together and maybe he'll even want to marry me…_

Hinata skidded to a stop, pressing the heel of her palm into her eyes. What was she doing? How could she have forgotten this morning already? This time wouldn't be any different than the last one hundred. How many times had she already gone through this?

How many nights had she stayed up slaving over the most perfect piece of ramen-flavored Valentine's Day chocolate? Only to see Sakura toss Naruto a simple square of chocolate, and after witnessing him jump for joy for like a pleased puppy, let her gift melt. How many times had she tried to ask him on a date? Only for him to innocently invite Kiba, Shino, or his teammates to tag along. How many words had she mistaken for having a deeper romantic meaning? Only for them to be an unintentional remark and for Naruto to have no idea what he truly means to her.

How many days had passed since she confessed her love before facing certain death?

The same number of days that he left her with no answer.

Something wet slipped out from beneath her palms. She let it drip to the floor. She allowed the confusion to unleash in her mind, wreak havoc upon her heart, because she didn't know what else to do. She really didn't.

* * *

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**Author's Notes: **So...this only took 4 months...I will try to make sure that the next chapter doesn't take as ridiculously long! Thank you to all the readers for patiently waiting and continuing to be so supportive! I've been a bit more active on tumblr, and am definitely better about answering questions there. I have a few stories on there too that I decided were too short to make it onto fanfiction. Hinata's chapter actually had to be split into 2 separate ones because it was getting ridiculously overwhelming for me to pace, so: 2 more storyline chapters and then epilogue left! :)

**EDIT (9/8/15): Really Long Explanation about Naruto "guilt-tripping" and Hinata/Sakura Jealousy**

I've been getting a lot of comments and message about these 2 points so I figured I'd just explain myself here. I usually like having my readers figure things out, but I've gotten so many I decided I should share my side.

This is not a Naruto guilt-trip story. Parts of it perhaps, because when you see your friend hurt (Hinata) you can't help but feel frustrated with the source (Naruto). But it is clearly established in the Shikamaru chapter that Naruto has a good heart and simply doesn't get it; Shikamaru knows this and earnestly tries to help him. Hinata knows this as well. Naruto does not owe her anything. Now, getting that out of the way, a large inspiration for this story is: how can someone not respond to a confession for 2 years? 2 years is a huge amount of time of being in the dark. If you confessed to someone and they didn't answer you for 2 years, you know what that feels like? "He doesn't feel the same way and doesn't have the heart to tell me," is Hinata's thoughts, while the reality is more like, "Does she really love me? How is that even possible it doesn't seem like she does. I don't know what to do with this information and I don't understand my own feelings." So I think some people confuse "guilt-tripping Naruto for not responding for 2 years," for "guilt-tripping Naruto into liking Hinata," and the second one is not what I'm going for. Shino spells it out in Ch. 8, "Naruto, no one will hold it against you if you do not choose to return Hinata's feelings. Believe it or not, all of us wish for you to be happy as well." (Then he amends it because he's thinking of Sakura/Ino's outspoken personalities and really, a little bit of himself.)

It is in no way my intention to bash his character. It's not out-rightly spoken, but I'm really trying to highlight that he's a good guy with a lot of self-doubt/insecurity which muddles his elementary understanding of romance. A lot of "guilt-tripping" is actually...what I picked up from canon and fillers! Sakura calling Naruto an idiot in the Last without explanation–and I know people don't really count the fillers but they're writers too and I watch their interpretations, a lot of the fillers show the rookies exasperated with Naruto or in Naruto SD it's a running gag for Neji to physically assault him. Not everyone is guilt-trippy, namely Shikamaru, Sai, and Chouji. Which is why I chose Shikamaru to educate him because of his objective sympathy and lack of strong opinion in the Last.

Next up, jealousy. The people we tend to be most jealous of...are the people closest to us. And it feels utterly awful. It's this very quiet sort of suppressed jealousy, because these people are your friends and friends are supposed to be nurturing and supportive 100% of the time. Being jealous of your friends feels socially inappropriate, it is riddled with guilt. But this hidden envy pops up occasionally in a fight or on a plain ol' bad day– sometimes as subtle as a mean inside thought to a snappy comment like, "Oh, like you ever have trouble getting boys/getting jobs/doing well in life."

Breathing life into Hinata as a real, normal girl, she must have this quiet suppressed jealousy. In the Last movie it's instantly there: when she thinks someone else gave Naruto a scarf first she immediately back paddles and leaves. Leaves because she doesn't know what to do with this uncomfortable feeling. Leaves to go cry by herself because she thinks her thoughts on Naruto not requiting her feelings has been affirmed. (And she's wrong, but she doesn't know that). **Fushigi Doll** put it rather nicely in her review, "It was not a matter of seeing Sakura as a love rival, rather, it was Sakura's disposition and Naruto's attention and actions towards Sakura Hinata's envious of." It hurts. It hurts to be so different from the kind of person Naruto appears interested in and to wonder how her shy/polite personality could ever be preferable. Back to the Last, it hits her hard to not be the mystery girl desired by Naruto, but you know what she says? Something along the lines of "I'm happy he's happy," as tears drop down her cheeks, because true to character Hinata is sweet and kind.

Doesn't mean she's not allowed to have negative emotions and feel upset that "she's not good enough" for Naruto's feelings. "I'm happy he's happy," has truth to it, and it's repeated throughout the entire story. But there's so, so much to explore underneath that line, enough to write an entire story on...


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